


Just Shapes

by faithfulcat111



Series: Just Shapes [1]
Category: Night In The Woods (Video Game), Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: College Dropout, Complete with strange dreams, Cults, Knife fights, Logicality is pre-established, Mentions of past abuse, Multi, Patton is wicked with a crossbow, Roman has anger issues, This is legit just a Night in the Woods AU, also depersonalization, and band practice, anxiety of course, but they all happen in the past, cause i wrote it kinda different from how i experience it, dismembered body parts, implied bipolar disorder and adhd, mention of deaths of many minor characters, mentions of past alcoholism, mentions of past family violence, none of these kids had easy childhoods, or are implied for unnamed characters, petty crimes, which I hope I wrote accurately, which i wrote based on a former friend, who had both of those
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-22 05:15:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 64,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15574572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faithfulcat111/pseuds/faithfulcat111
Summary: "No Roman, I grew up. You just got older."Roman Sanders, a recent college dropout, returns home to reconnect with old friends and continue his aimless life of adventure. But he soon discovers that everything back home isn't what he remembers. Friends are growing up, leaving, and the people of Possum Springs haven't forgotten what he had done. But there is something else happening, something that is lurking in the woods.Written for the Storytime! Big Bang 2018





	1. Day 1 (Wednesday)

The loud sound of a train pulling out of a station almost caused the boy standing there to drop his suitcase and cover his ears. As it was, he flinched as the train headed off into the distance. When it was finally gone, he let out his held breath and ran a hand through his red locks, saying to himself, “Welp, Roman. You’re home.”  
Roman steeled himself up as he began to walk through the station as he slowly noticed one thing, there was no one else there. “Well ain’t that just brilliant,” he practically growled to himself. “First day back in Possum Springs and there is no one there to pick you up. Yippie! Mom and Dad forgot all about you. Good job trash pile.” He gave a half-hearted kick to a piece of balled-up paper on the floor.   
As he kept walking, he began to hear the buzzing of something. It sounded sort of like the static of a TV. Excited, he picked up his pace and turned the corner to wear the front desk and door to the station was. There he found…. Only an old janitor doing something with a drill to the door. He took another tentative step forward, “Hello?”  
“We don’t get many people off the train this late at night, kid,” the janitor said without even turning around.  
“Excuse you, I am not a kid! I am twenty years old!” Roman huffed back. The janitor just made a small humming noise and the two stood there for a moment before Roman tried again, “Um, can I leave?”  
“Nope,” the janitor said firmly. “Door’s broken.”  
“And how long will that take?” Roman asked.  
“About how long it will take you to get me a soda from that there vending machine.”   
Roman turned around to look at the vending machine sitting in the corner of the hall, “Wait, you seriously want me to buy you a soda?”  
“Naw,” the janitor let out a slight laugh. “I rig it after hours so the soda is free.”  
There was silence for a moment as Roman gave the janitor a mischievous smirk, “So what you are saying is that I can get as much soda as I want for free?”  
“Do that and you’ll be stuck in this here station till mornin,” the janitor finally turned around and pointed his drill at Roman.  
“Alright, alright!” Roman raised his hand not holding his suitcase in defence, before turning around to head to the soda machine. Sure enough, all he had to do was press the cola button and the soda was his, no money necessary. He walked back over to the janitor who was now leaning against the doorframe and handed it over, “Here you go. One free soda.”  
The janitor turned the can upside down and drilled a hole in the bottom of the can, draining it as Roman asked, “So when do you think the door will be fixed?”  
The janitor crushed the can in his hand, let out a burp, before saying, “Now,” and walking out the door, leaving Roman standing there in slight confusion at what just happened. Roman sighed dramatically, giving a big eye roll towards the sky, before following the janitor out only to find that he completely vanished.  
“Wait, what?” Roman did a full 360 trying to locate him in the station’s tiny parking lot. “Well, looks like I’m walking.” He dramatically hefted his suitcase and started off down the road through the woods towards town.   
As he kept walking, Roman continued to mutter to himself. “Stupid parents forgetting to pick me up. Stupid station so far away from town. Stupid town has no cell service, no taxis, no buses, shuts down at bloody midnight. Stupid creaking metal… what?” He looked up to see that he had wandered into an old playground. “I know this place! I used to play here when I was young!” Roman dropped his suitcase and ran forward, placing a cautious hand on the old wooden structure. He spotted a worn sign that simply read, “Keep Off.” “Well that isn’t surprising, this place was probably condemned ten years ago or something like that.” Despite the sign, he climbed up into a centre platform and observed three more platforms that led like a staircase to a much taller platform. “I betcha I can make it up to that top platform now. The kids used to tease me when I was small that I couldn’t,” he looked down at his still short stature, “Well, smaller, but I betcha I’m big enough now. Just can’t stop moving.” He backed up on his platform to get a running start and took off, jumping from platform until he reached the top one. Roman stopped, dazed for a second as he regained his balance before a super-excited smile erupted on his face and he pumped a fist in the air, “Yes! Take that you jerks! Roman CAN make it to the top of the platform!”   
Roman looked out at a wire that led away from the platform. “But the question is, do I still have the ability to walk on the electric lines?” He carefully put one foot on the wire, getting his balance before he moved his other foot onto the wire. Very slowly he began to make his way down the wire, but he only made it about halfway when he lost his balance and fell to the ground.   
He barely had enough time to let out a moan of pain before there was suddenly a flashlight was shining in his eyes. Roman did his best to blink out the dark spots that suddenly appeared in his vision, squinting up at the figure that was slowly coming into focus above him, “Uncle Mall Cop?”  
The man that was slowly coming into focus frowned, “Really Roman? And pray tell, what in the world are you doing out here at this time of night on condemned playground equipment?”   
Roman snorted, “I do what I want, Uncle Mall Cop.”  
The man lowered his flashlight out of Roman’s eyes allowing Roman to see properly. He was wearing a cop’s uniform, his purple hair barely brushed out of his eyes. “Get in the car Roman,” he indicated the still-running cop car just a few feet away with his flashlight.   
Roman turned his head away, “No.”  
The man raised an eyebrow, “Roman, do you want to spend your first night back in jail?”   
There was a brief pause before Roman finally said, “No.”  
“Then grab your suitcase and let’s go.”

The cop dropped Roman off in front of a blue house deep within the town. Inside Roman found his dad sitting in front of the TV. Immediately, the rage he had felt earlier returned and he slammed the front door shut, shouting, “Remember me?”  
His dad violently jerked at the sound, “R-Roman? You almost gave me a heart attack! I thought you weren’t returning until tomorrow.”  
Roman dropped his suitcase as he threw both arms up, “Well you thought wrong!”   
“Oh, oh, I’m sorry son,” his dad put his head down into one hand. “How did you even get home?”  
“Walked until Uncle Mall Cop tried to arrest me. He gave me a ride home,” Roman crossed his arms, still angry at his father.  
His dad frowned at that, “Roman, you can’t keep calling your uncle that. Did you at least say hi to Uncle Thomas for us?”  
“No!” Roman all but shouted. “I say hi for nobody! Eff the cops! Now I’m going to bed. Is my bed still there or are we waiting until tomorrow for that too?”  
“Your bedroom is still as you left it, Roman,” his dad said, sounding extremely tired.   
“Good,” Roman picked his suitcase back up with a dramatic flourish and stomped up the stairs to his attic bedroom. There he all but threw his suitcase across the floor and flopped down onto his bed, screaming into his pillow.


	2. Day 2 (Thursday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter trigger warnings: Mention of past violence, dismembered body parts

The sun was what eventually woke up Roman the next morning. He blinked at the rays of light that had finally streamed across his face. It was just after Daylight Savings ended in late October and the sun was about halfway down. Which meant it was mid-afternoon. Great… Roman rolled over and stared up at his ceiling, an old poster from his favourite band as a teenager taped up there. Slowly the events of last night started to filter back through his head. He moaned, rubbing at his face, barely noting that his hair was sticking up in some weird angles. Time to get up.  
After a brief shower and a new set of clothes, he started to run out of his bedroom but caught sight of something red and white in the corner of his eyes. It was his jacket that he wore all the time in high school, but forgot to take to college with him and his parents refused to his ship it to him. He lifted it to his nose, breathing in the must and faint smell of his parent’s laundry soap. Man, he had missed home. Roman quickly pulled on his jacket and started running down the stairs, but barely reached the bottom, one hand outstretched for the doorknob when he heard a voice call out, “Honey? Can you come see me before you head out?”  
Roman rounded the corner around the stairs to find his mom sitting at the kitchen table, reading a book. She placed a bookmark in her book before looking up at him, “Oh honey, I’m so sorry we got the days mixed up. It was just so last minute you coming home and all that we just completely forgot to pick you up last night.”  
Roman gave a shrug, hopping up to sit on the kitchen counter. He grabbed a spoon out of a nearby drawer and the peanut butter off the counter by the toaster as he said, “It’s fine Mom. I got home safe. Uncle Mall Cop gave me a ride.”  
“Oh honey, I wish you wouldn’t call Uncle Thomas that. He works very hard at his job,” his mom stared at Roman for a moment while he just shoved a large spoonful of peanut butter into his mouth, not answering. “Roman, is everything all right?”  
Roman looked up in slight surprise, “What do you mean Mom?”  
“Well honey, you did just out of the blue drop out of school and decide to come home. I’m worried about you. Is everything fine?”  
Roman swallowed the peanut butter in his mouth before answering, “Yeah Mom, everything is fine. Just didn’t feel like going to school anymore.” He twisted the lid back onto the peanut butter and hopped off the counter to drop his spoon into the sink, “Do you know where Patton is?”  
His mom raised an eyebrow at him, but answered anyway, “Yes he works at the Snack Falcon now.”  
Roman stopped in surprise, “We have a Snack Falcon?”  
“Yup, they put it in after the Food Donkey shut down,” his mom picked her book back up.  
“They shut down the Food Donkey,” Roman’s voice trailed off as he processed this information.  
“Honey, are you ok?”  
Roman snapped his eyes up to his mom’s, “Yeah, I’m fine Mom! Just peachy!” He gave her a wide smile. “I’m gonna go find Patton.”  
His mom frowned, but said, “Alright, just don’t stay out too late. It is getting dark early now.”  
“I know Mom!” Roman waved her off as he finally made it out of the house. Outside, he stopped on the front porch appreciating the neighbourhood and the smell of fall in the daylight. He started down the street towards downtown in his quest to find Patton.  
Roman didn’t make it very far before he spotted a kid he used to know sitting on the front steps of a house, wrapped up tight in an old grey and black coat. “Elliott!” he shouted out, picking up the pace to reach him.  
The kid turned their head, one eyebrow raised in almost amused consideration as Roman reached them, “Hey kid, you back home for a long weekend?”  
Roman gave a short laugh, “Naw, I’m back home for good! How have you been? I haven’t seen you in forever!”  
Elliott just shrugged, “Nothing much. Lost my job when the Food Donkey shut down and haven’t really found another one. Had to move back in with my parents.”  
“Oh, I’m really sorry to hear that.”  
“So what are you doing now?” Elliott asked. “You working anywhere, kid?”  
“Oh,” Roman blinked at them, “No, I just got back. Living with my parents till I figure everything out.”  
“So basically you’re a teenager again?” they asked.  
“No! I’m not!” Roman shouted.  
“Seems like it to me. No job, no need to pay rent, are you going to start-”  
“Hey is that Roman?” Elliott was cut off as a voice rang out from above them. The two looked up to see a man looking down from a raised porch next door. “It is! Come on up here son!”  
“Well, better go see what he wants, kid,” Elliott gave Roman another look.  
Roman simply huffed at him as he turned and stomped up the stairs. Right before reaching the top, he stopped to take a huge breath before facing the man that used to be his favourite high school teacher. “Dr Picani!” he grinned at the man giving him a hug.  
“Roman!” Dr Picani hugged him back. “What are you doing back here? Don’t you still have school, boy?”  
Roman shrugged, “Not for me.”  
Dr Picani gave him a look, another one of those questioning looks that Roman was honestly just getting sick and tired of everyone he met giving him one. Roman was just starting to squirm under his gaze when Dr Picani gave another laugh and simply said, “Well, you were always one of my favourite students. If you ever wanted to still learn-”  
“No thanks, Dr Picani! Your psychology class gave me a headache literally every day. I do not want to go through that ever again.”  
“Not psychology,” Dr Picani chuckled. “Trust me, I am in no rush to try and teach you that either. I was talking about the class you actually had an interest in before you found out it was mainly facts and data.”  
Roman blinked at him before tentatively saying, “Chemist-”  
“Astronomy!” Dr Picani threw his hands up in excitement! “And if you want, this time I can make absolutely sure to teach you the stories that go along with the stars.”  
“That would be amazing!” Roman exclaimed.  
“Perfect! I’m up on my roof just about every night at dusk. I can’t wait to see you then! In the meantime, go find those friends of yours. I’m sure they are anxious to see you,” Dr Picani said.  
“Alright, goodbye Dr Picani!” Roman gave him a wave as he started back down the stairs. He looked back over his shoulder one last time at Elliott, who seemed to be scribbling in some sort of notebook, before setting off down the street once more. 

After that interaction with Elliott, Roman wasn’t particularly keen on talking to anyone else. He made his way quickly through downtown, hearing bits of conversation about the failing economy and the nearby sports team’s performance. He had just spotted the Snack Falcon in a couple blocks down when a voice called out clearly over the hubbub of the town, “Hey Killer!”  
He turned around to see what looked to be some sort of punk running up to him. Their hair was bright pink and blue and they were wearing a leather jacket with patches that reached their knees, probably because they were even shorter than Roman, which was saying something considering he was 5’ 5”. “Excuse me?” he asked. “I have a name you know.”  
The punk looked apologetic as they quickly backed up, “Sorry! That’s just the only name I know you by considering, you know, you put that one kid in the hospital a few years back.”  
“I-i,” Roman stumbled. “People still remember that?”  
“Yeah! It was a freaking legend! Even us kids at the middle school heard about it! Where are my manners? The name’s Talyn, they/them,” the punk stuck at their hand.  
Roman looked down at it cautiously for a second before reaching out to shake it, “Roman, he/him.” He quickly pulled his hand back, “You know, you really shouldn’t idolize something like that.”  
Talyn waved him off with a laugh, “Seriously? That was the only interesting thing to happen in this town in years. I mean besides the recent stuff. Trust me, nobody has forgotten it yet.”  
“Oh,” Roman stuck his hands in his pockets, wishing he could just disappear into his jacket. Why did he think it was a good idea to come back home? However, he quickly realized what Talyn had said, “Wait, what recent stuff?”  
Talyn looked side-to-side before leaning it like they were giving some sort of secret, “There have been people going missing. No one believes it though. My dad vanished about a year ago. I mean, he always talked about leaving which is why the police didn’t push the investigation. But then I started paying attention. People are vanishing, those that wanted to get out of Possum Springs. People that no one would really miss. People like my dad and Remy Caste.”  
“Remy?” Roman’s eyes widened in surprise.  
“Yup,” Talyn said, popping the ‘p’, “No one believed his parents, but they put up missing fliers all over town. No one has seen him since June or so.”  
“Hey kid!” a voice shouted from a window above them, causing them both to look up, “Your sista’s lookin for ya!”  
“Oh no,” Talyn whispered before looking back down at Roman, “Hey if you ever want to talk more Killer, I’m usually up on the roofs. There’s no one to yell at ya up there. See ya!” They ran up to the door of the apartment building they were by and ran inside, leaving Roman outside reeling.  
Remy… Remy was missing? Roman supposed that he had always talked of hopping the trains one day and never looking back to Possum Springs, but that was all just talk. Or so Roman apparently thought. Roman turned to look back towards the Snack Falcon. Hopefully, Patton could explain some things. 

The bell above the door rang as Roman pushed open the door to the Snack Falcon. It certainly looked like what you would expect one to look like. Aisles of various completely unhealthy snacks, the glowing neon sign of a Slushie machine in the back. “ROOOOOOOMMMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!!!!!” a voice squeaked out through the store. And when Roman looked, sure enough, to his left there was the checkout counter with a very excited Patton behind it. His friend hadn’t seemed to have changed much since Roman had last seen him a little over a year ago. He had let his hair grow out. The locks that his parents made him keep super short through middle school and high school had grown into a slightly untamed fro style. His glasses, which were constantly being repaired with tape and wire, had finally been replaced. But he was still wearing that stupid grey cardigan that he always insisted he had to wear and his general happy-pappy Patton energy was still there. And Roman could now see it clearly, even if he may never admit it. He missed his best friend.  
“You’re back!” Patton threw his arms up into the air, still bouncing up and down from behind the counter.  
Roman laughed, quickly making his way over, “I’m back!”  
“Oh my, it has been so long since the last time I saw you! What are you doing back here?” Patton cried out. “You never came home to visit before!”  
“Well,” Roman reached a hand up to scratch at the back of his neck nervously. “I’m actually back for good.”  
There was silence for a moment as Patton seemed to process this for a second. It seemed like he was going to say something before he settled on another large grin and simply shouting again, “You’re back!”  
Roman laughed, “I’m back!” It felt good to be back with Patton who didn’t question him and just went with whatever Roman decided. “Now what’s a guy like you doing working at a place like this?”  
Patton laughed, “I needed a job for rent! I finally moved out of my parent’s place!”  
“Really?” Roman was slightly taken-aback as Patton had never really been one to stay in one place for too long without becoming distracted. “What about-?”  
“Me and Logan?” Patton finished. “Oh yeah, we are doing positively Pat-rific! Be-dum-tish!” Patton laughed loudly at his own pun before finishing, “We are living together now! It’s fantastic!”  
Roman smiled at that, “That is amazing Pat! I’m so happy for you two!”  
Patton nodded enthusiastically, “Yup, we are saving up money to finally ditch this town. Still got a ways to go, but we’re getting there.”  
“It’s been awhile since I’ve seen either of you guys. When do you get off work so we can hang out?”  
“Right now!” Patton vaulted himself over the counter, grabbing Roman’s wrist as he took off at a dead run out the door.  
“Now? But what about the- okay we’re doing this,” Roman could just barely keep up with Patton’s pace. For a guy so short, he sure was fast.  
But it wasn’t a far walk to a warehouse with a broken sign that Roman vaguely remembered. “Wait, is this the Party Barn? Where Logan used to work?”  
“Yuppity-yup! They shut down a while back. Now we use the space for band practice!” Patton replied.  
“Makes sense. I always wondered how there were enough parties in this town to keep them in business,” Roman was still being dragged forward by Patton. He spotted a figure ahead, setting up the speakers and instruments. “Hey, Logan!”  
The man, who was currently attaching wires to a soundboard, glanced up. He had grown taller and broader, actually looking like he had some fat to him unlike through high school. He still dressed as professional as ever with his polo and slacks, though his tie was loosened. He stood up and straightened his glasses, “Salutations Roman. I didn’t realize you were in town.”  
“Yeah well-”  
“Wait, you should totally practice with us!!!” Patton suddenly cut Roman off, practically bouncing up and down.  
“Practice with you? But I hardly remember how to play. I haven’t since I left,” Roman said as Patton darted off into the boxes that filled the back of the store.  
“I still have your old bass here somewhere. Darnit,” a small crash sounded.  
“Patton?” Logan took a step towards the boxes, concern etching his face.  
“I’m okay!” Patton shouted back! “Didn’t break anything neither!”  
“Either,” Logan muttered to himself as he took another step forward.  
“Seriously Patton, I’m okay. I don’t need-” Roman stopped as he heard the creaky sound of the door sound again. He turned to see another person closing the door again. When the other figure turned around and met his eyes, they stopped in shock. The new person was wearing black ripped jeans, an oversized band shirt, and a plaid hoodie. The tips of his hair were dyed purple and hanged across his eyes, foundation and black eyeshadow in the place of where Roman remembered to be freckles. “Virgil?”  
The new person’s face instantly melted away into a scowl as he clutched the computer he was carrying closer, “Roman. I didn’t realize you were back.”  
Roman awkwardly scratched at the back of his head, “Yeah I’m back.”  
“He’s back for good!” Patton’s voice echoed from somewhere in the building.  
Virgil and Logan shared a glance that Roman didn’t like before Virgil said, “You are back from college for good?”  
“Yeah well, how have you been Virgil? It’s been a while since we last talked,” Roman quickly deflected.  
It worked as Virgil’s face instantly returned to its previous scowl, “Yeah it’s been eight years.”  
“How the time flies!” Roman tried to chuckle, but both Virgil and Logan just stared at him, Virgil’s face still locked in that insufferable scowl and Logan’s just impassive.  
There was a brief moment of awkward silence with rustling sounds of Patton’s search in the background before Roman asked, “What are you doing here, Virgil?”  
“He plays the drums!” Patton practically rematerialized beside Roman, scaring him. He was holding Roman’s bass. “We asked him to come in after Remy left. Kinda hard to have a band with just two people.”  
Roman looked around, seeing no drum set, before noting that Virgil’s fingers were drumming against the computer he still clutched, “That’s not drums. That is a computer.”  
Virgil started to snarl at him, but Patton quickly jumped in, “Roman is going to be joining us today playing bass, okay Virgil?”  
Virgil stared at Roman for a long moment before responding, “Sure Patton, I’ll turn the bass parts off.”  
“See, everything’s fine guys! Now Roman,” Roman nearly fell over as Patton suddenly shoved the old bass into his arms, “Make some bass-iful sounds!”  
“That doesn’t even make sense,” Logan complained.

After band practice, the four made their way to the town diner for some pizza. They made their way about halfway through the pie, chattering aimlessly, when Roman remarked, “It’s nice, us hanging out like this. We should do it more often now that I’m back.” The other glanced at each other with almost wary looks, causing Roman to question, “What?”  
“Well, you see Roman,” Patton started.  
“As much as we would love to hang out together,” Logan continued.  
“We can’t,” Virgil flatly stated, pulling his legs up into his chair with him.  
Roman stared at Virgil, miffed and slightly hurt at his bluntness. Patton leaned forward, carefully touching Roman’s arm, directing his attention back to himself, “You see Roman, we have responsibilities now. Jobs to go to, bills to pay.”  
Logan nodded in agreement, “Yeah, I work the day shift at Video Outpost Too.”  
“I manage the Ol’ Pickaxe,” Virgil spoke up from his chair.  
“And I’m king of the Snack Falcons!” Patton leapt up out of his chair, his arms waving to match his excitement level.  
“So you see Roman,” Logan said as he placed one hand on Patton’s arm, guiding him back down into his chair, “We can’t hang out like we used to high school, all the time. Any time.”  
“Oh,” Roman poked at the piece of half-eaten pizza still left on the plate in front of him. “You said earlier that Remy left. Where did he go?”  
Patton seemed to deflate at the mention of their other high school buddy rather than get excited like Roman was hoping, “He left one night. Didn’t tell anyone where he was going, he was here one day and just gone the next. His parents thought he went missing. They put up posters all over town. But shortly after Longest Day last year, he was gone.”  
Roman tilted his head as he asked, “You don’t think he really went missing, do you?”  
Patton shrugged as he looked off out the window, “No. I think he hopped the trains. He’s gone somewhere out there, travelling.”  
“Just like he always said he would,” Roman tried to give Patton a smile.  
Patton stared at Roman for a second before breaking out into his own grin, “Yes, exactly. Just like he always said.” Roman looked over at the other two. Logan was giving his own gentle smile towards Patton.  
Virgil, however, was giving Roman another one of his eerie stares. Before Roman could question him though, he suddenly said in a gravelly voice, “Why did you come back, Roman?”  
“W-what?” this caught Roman slightly off-guard. It appeared that the issue had stuck in Virgil’s head and he couldn’t deflect it as well as he seemed to for Logan and Patton.  
Virgil uncurled his legs, replanting them on the floor as he leaned forward in his chair. “You heard me,” he all but growled. “Why did you leave school?”  
Roman turned to stare out the window much like Patton was just a moment before. “It didn’t work out,” he said.  
“Didn’t work out?” Roman refused to turn and see what look Virgil was giving him this time.  
Patton apparently saw it though as he quickly said, “Well I don’t know about you guys, but I think it is time to head out. It’s date night for me and Lo tonight so we need to get home.”  
“Fine by me,” Virgil stood up, the other three quickly following suit.  
After paying, Patton grabbed Roman’s arm on their way, “I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am that you are back in town! I have to work like every day, but we try to have band practice at least once a week and you need to hang out with us beyond that. I’ll let you know the evenings I’m off and we- what is that?”  
The two came to an abrupt halt right outside the diner as the two stared at the strange object Patton spotted lying on the sidewalk. Logan and Virgil walked up behind them, Virgil lighting a cigarette before joining Logan at peering around them to see what they were staring at. “Is that an arm?” Virgil asked.  
“It appears to be an arm,” Logan confirms, leaning in a bit closer to try and get a closer look.  
“Oh great, are you telling me I have to worry about dismemberment on my way home as well as everything else!” Virgil moaned.  
Roman smirked as he located another item right by his feet, “I’m going to poke it with a stick.”  
Logan turned in shock to see Roman picking up the stick, “No, we should call the police! We should not poke it with a stick!”  
“Do it! Do it!” Patton chanted, a grin to match Roman’s growing on his face.  
Roman got down to scoot forward with his stick to poke at the arm, ignoring Logan’s mutterings about how “insufferable the lot of you are.” As he pushed the arm around, the sleeve came up slightly to reveal something black on the arm. “What is that?” he whispered to himself as he continued to poke the arm around in order to push the sleeve up. It looked like it could be a black triangle or maybe a black dia-  
“Hey what are you kids doing?”  
Roman snapped his head up to see his uncle storming up the sidewalk towards the group. He quickly dropped his stick, taking a step back, one hand in front of Patton, who had been practically on top of him trying to watch what he was doing. “Hey Uncle Mall Cop!” he called out, trying to keep a smile on his face, “We found an arm.”  
Thomas stopped on the other side of the arm looking down in what was obviously disgust, “And you decided the best thing to do was not call the cops but to poke it with a stick?”  
“Yup! See there is this black-”  
“Roman, stop!” Roman looked up from where he was about to point out the strange marking on the arm to see his uncle rubbing at his temples with one hand in exasperation. “When there is a random body part just lying on the ground, the normal thing to do is to alert the authorities, not poke it with a stick.”  
Roman huffed as he straightened back up, “Well, I alert you. There is an arm on the ground outside the diner. There. You have been alerted.”  
Thomas stared at him for a long moment before saying, “Go home kids. But not alone. It’s getting dark, so use the buddy system.”  
Logan reached forward to detach Patton from where he was still holding Roman’s arm, “We live just down the street officer.”  
“And I can take Roman home,” Roman turned in surprise to see Virgil pulling a set of car keys out of his hoodie pocket as he dropped his cigarette on the ground to snuff it out with his sneaker.  
Behind him, he could hear Thomas say, “Thank you, Virgil. Now hurry home, all of you before it gets dark.”  
“Yes, sir!” Patton and Logan went around Thomas and started down the street hand in hand.  
Roman could see Thomas say something softly into his walky-talky, but before he could question his uncle further, Virgil grabbed his jacket sleeve with a quiet, “Come on,” and the two set off for a car parked just down the street.  
They were silent for the first few minutes of the drive. Roman nervously twiddled his thumbs. It had been years since he’d talked to Virgil let alone been in an enclosed space alone with him. But if there was one thing Roman hated, it was awkward silences, so he tried what he hoped would be a neutral silence, “So, the Ol’ Pickaxe, huh?”  
“What?” Virgil’s voice was so monotone that Roman almost missed that it was a question.  
“Your parents’ store. Are they training you to take over or what?” Roman asked. Virgil suddenly slammed on the brakes, causing Roman to jerk forward and then slam back against his seat as the seatbelt caught him. “Ow!”  
“Oh look, we’re here,” Virgil said, still very monotone, his face holding no expression.  
“Um, actually my house isn’t for another couple of blocks,” Roman said.  
“Get out,” a slight snarl entered Virgil’s voice.  
“Okay, okay,” Roman scrambled out of the car, barely shutting the door before Virgil took off, his tires screeching. “What is his problem?” Roman murmured to himself, starting on the remaining walk home. 

He made it home just as the sun disappeared below the horizon. He heard a voice calling from the living room, “Roman, is that you?”  
“Yeah it is,” he walked around the corner to see his dad sitting on the couch, putting the TV on mute.  
“Roman honey, I’m sorry again that we didn’t pick you up yesterday. I still can’t believe that-”  
“Dad,” Roman interrupted. “It’s okay.”  
“No, it really isn’t,” his dad said.  
“Well, why don’t we do this? Let’s pretend that I did get home today. We just got home from you picking me up from the train station,” Roman suggested.  
His dad finally cracked a smile, “Sure.”  
Roman walked over to sit next to his dad, hugging him, “Thanks for picking me up from the train station, Dad.”  
“Your welcome Roman. How was the train ride?” his dad asked.  
“Lots of cattle,” the two chuckled. Roman suddenly pulled away, “Oh! We saw an arm today!”  
His dad’s eyebrows knit together in confusion, “Wait, are we still pretending that it is yesterday?”  
“No! I was at the diner with Patton, Logan, and Virgil, and there was an arm outside as we were leaving. I poked it with a stick and then Uncle Mall Cop showed up and yelled at me,” Roman explained.  
“I wish you wouldn’t call your uncle that. His job is very dangerous,” Roman’s dad sighed.  
Roman shook his head, “No, you’re missing the point, Dad. There was an arm outside the diner downtown!”  
“Maybe you should go to bed Roman,” his dad turned back to the TV.  
Roman’s face fell, “Yeah sure. Good night Dad.”  
He got up and started to leave the room, but was stopped when he heard his dad say, “Good night little prince.” He smiled at his dad, who was still facing the TV, before heading up the stairs to his room.


	3. Day 3 (Friday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter trigger warnings: Electrocution, computer "virus", existential crisis, mention of past alcoholism

The next morning, found Roman finally unpacking his bags from college. He didn’t have much, just a couple large duffle bags and his backpack, but he wasn’t going to just live out of bags, no siree. He had higher standards than that. With his clothes finally unpacked and returned to his dresser and closet, Roman finally pulled his laptop out of his backpack, ignoring his now dead, and useless, cell phone at the bottom. “Ah I’ve missed you, baby,” he said, hugging it close to his chest. “Going over 24 hours without internet is too long. And because they built the tower on the wrong side of the highway, you are my only connection to the outside world.” Roman reached behind his bed, plugging in the charger and ethernet cable, connecting them both to his laptop, before finally powering it up.  
But what he saw was not what he expected. “No! No! What is this!” Roman cried out as he realized some virus has decided to infest his computer with pop-up ads for all sorts of things he wasn’t interested in. “I need to fix this. Ooh, I could take it to Logan. He’s good with computers,” Roman paused as he tried to remember. “I think. But I don’t really want to lug this across town and I definitely don’t want him seeing this. Gah!” Roman rubbed at his temple with the heels of his hands, “Okay, here’s what you are going to do. You are going to go ask if he can. And then we will go from there. Now, where does he work? Why can’t I remember? Fine, I’ll go ask Patton.” Roman shut his laptop back down and grabbed his jacket as he ran back downstairs.  
Right before running outside, he heard a voice from the kitchen, “Roman? Come see me before you leave.”  
Roman huffed and headed into the kitchen, a fixed smile on his face, “Morning Mom!”  
His mom, who was reading at the kitchen table, laughed, “Oh, I’m not a Morning Mom. I’m a 24 hour Mom.”  
Roman faltered, “A w-what?”  
“I’m Mom 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” his mom explained.  
“Oh, very funny, Mom,” Roman laughed as he finally caught on.  
“What are you up to today, Roman?” she asked.  
“There is something up with my laptop, so I’m going to ask Logan to fix it. You remember Logan, right?” Roman leaned against the countertop.  
“Patton’s boyfriend?” When Roman nodded in confirmation, his mom continued, “Well, you better hope he can fix it. You can’t afford a new one.”  
“I know, Mom,” Roman said. “See you later.”  
“Bye honey,” his mom called out as he finally headed out.  
Roman figured that the best way to find Logan was to ask Patton where he worked. And Patton worked at the Snack Falcon. Which was across town. It was a bit of a walk, but Roman enjoyed the leaves that were just beginning to fall and the brisk autumn air of his journey. He soon reached downtown, passing a store called Video Outpost Too. That sounded vaguely familiar, but when he glanced in the front window, there was some sort of goth girl at the front counter, not Logan. So he continued on to the Snack Falcon.  
The bell jingled as Roman entered, but he almost immediately exited. Sitting behind the counter was Patton, but he was practically quivering with cups strapped over his ears like some sort of alien, “Um, Patton?”  
“Hi Roman! I got cups on my ears!” Patton squealed.  
“I can see that. Why do you have cups on your ears?” Roman asked.  
“It sounds like the ocean. You know like down at Bright Harbor,” Patton started giggling.  
“Okay Patton, I’m actually here to find out where Logan is,” Roman steered the conversation away from wherever Patton’s mind was going, knowing it would take way too long to refocus the conversation otherwise.  
“Should be at work. He works down at Video Outpost too,” Patton nodded with way too much enthusiasm.  
Roman furrowed his eyebrows, “Does he?” He thought back to the store, distinctly remembering that Logan wasn’t there. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t in the back restocking things or on break or whatever. “Okay, I’ll find him.”  
“What do you need him for?” Patton said with sudden seriousness.  
“I’m having computer issues. Logan’s good with computers, right?” Roman asked.  
Patton’s smile twisted into a smirk, “What kind of computer issues, Roman?”  
“Just a virus of some sort. Please don’t ask,” Roman begged.  
Patton burst into laughter, “Wait, you got-”  
“Dude!” Roman cut him off. “Not cool!”  
Patton’s laughter devolved into giggles, “Yeah, Logan is good with computers. He is like a hacker, he is so good. He should take care of your little problem.”  
Roman rolled his eyes as he headed out, “Thanks a lot buddy old pal.”  
“Any day!” Patton called out as the door shut behind Roman.  
Roman headed back down the few buildings to the video store, hoping that Logan would have magically appeared in the time he was talking to Patton. But the goth girl just looked up at him and said, “Hello?”  
Roman tilted his head at her, “Are you asking me a question?”  
“No?” she answered.  
“Um,” he shuffled his feet. “Is Logan here?”  
“No?” she repeated.  
Roman furrowed his eyebrows, “Wait, do you know he is not here or are you just guessing?”  
“He’s not here?” the girl continued. “I got in early so he went home? He lives like right next door?”  
“Oh, um, thank you?” Roman started to back out of the store, thoroughly confused by the girl at this point.  
“Your welcome?” was the last thing she said before he left completely.  
“What a weirdo,” Roman muttered to himself as he stepped out of the building. He looked up at the apartment building next door. It was tall and slightly broken down, not exactly the sort of place he figured Logan and Patton would have ended up, but it was theirs. He guessed that counted for something. Roman shoved his hands into his jacket pockets and walked inside over to the elevator. “Awww, that’s cute,” he squealed to himself as he saw Patton and Logan’s names next to their call button in their handwriting with a little heart between them. Then Roman looked at the call button. “You have got to be kidding me!” he shouted upon seeing that the button was completely busted out. He glanced at the other names, most of them too scribbled or faded to really tell what the names used to be. But he had to get upstairs and fix his computer somehow. He tried the button right below his friends.  
“Hello? Carl?” an old creaky voice came over the speaker.  
“No, um, Roman. I’m looking for a Logan,” Roman tried to explain.  
“You’re not Carl,” the voice stated.  
“And you’re not Logan,” Roman raised an eyebrow, trying to figure out what the voice was implying. When he heard a click of the speaker shutting off, he sighed to himself, “Glad we sorted that out.”  
He tried the next button. “Hello?” a still old but fresher voice said.  
“Hello, I’m looking for my friend Logan,” Roman tried to cut straight to the point.  
“Do you go to church, young man?” the voice asked.  
“I- wait- what?” Roman faltered.  
“Are you going to heaven?” the voice asked again.  
“Well,” Roman scratched at the back of his neck. “My mum works at the church, so I kind of get in by default.” When he heard a click, he sighed again. Yup, that was the reaction he usually got.  
He tried the next button. The voice came over, shouting, “I don’t want any of your stinking cookies?”  
Roman paused for a second, “I’m not selling cookies.”  
“Well, whatever you’re selling, I ain’t buying,” there was another click and Roman huffed. This was getting him nowhere. Why was there no cell reception in this whole town that he could just call Logan and ask him to buzz him in? What idiot decided that? What idiot also decided to bust in a call button on two young adults?  
He looked back up at the call box. There was one more button to push, the one right above Patton and Logan’s. The one that was blank like no one bothered to actually write in their name. “Please let someone actually live here,” he muttered to himself as he pressed the button.  
After a second, a voice, much younger than any of the previous voices, came over the speaker, “Hello?”  
“Hello!” Roman quickly rushed, “I’m visiting my friend Logan, but the call button for his apartment appears to be busted. Can you please buzz me in?”  
“Oh yeah, his short friend got angry one day and kicked it in,” the voice said, completely ignoring the second part of Roman’s statement.  
Roman paused before asking, “Patton?”  
“Yeah, that’s his name,” the voice confirmed.  
“Why would he do that?” Roman wondered out loud.  
“Beats me,” the voice said, but before Roman could say anything else, they turned the speaker off, leaving Roman alone in the lobby once more.  
“Oh come on!” Roman shouted as he ran his fingers aggressively through his hair, pulling on it in frustration. He looked back up at the broken call button and quickly slammed his finger into it, consequences be damned.  
Or maybe he should have cared about the consequences, because he immediately jumped back, howling in pain as the open wires that were apparently hidden behind the broken glass of the call button were live and electrocuted him. It got him the result he needed though because not a second later, Logan’s voice was coming over the speaker, “Hello?”  
“ARRRRGGGGHHHH!” Roman cried out, still in pain.  
“Roman?” Logan asked, concern in his voice.  
“Why!?!?!? Why in the name of all the holed cheese in the world is your button broken? It just electrocuted me!” Roman screamed. The physical pain was subsiding, but the pain to Roman’s ego lingered on.  
“It’s not broken, you just have to use a screwdriver,” Logan explained, annoyingly calm.  
“And how was I supposed to know that!” Roman screamed.  
Logan sighed and there was a loud buzzing sound before he said, “Come on up.” The elevator doors finally opened and Roman blinked at them for a second before scrambling inside before they could close and he’d have to go through that whole process all over again.  
Once inside the apartment, Logan simply stated, “Patton’s not here you know.”  
“I know,” Roman said, looking around the sparsely decorated apartment, taking in the little touches that were obviously two broke young adults trying to make the best out of a poor situation. “He sent me to you.”  
“Why?” Roman finally turned to see Logan looking at him, his head slightly tilted in confusion. He was still wearing his work polo and today a striped tie but was standing annoyingly straight for someone who definitely wasn’t.  
“My computer’s broken,” Roman decided to cut to the chase. Logan was never the type of person who liked small talk from what he could remember from high school.  
Logan looked Roman up and down, “And?”  
“And what?” Roman asked sheepishly.  
“And where is this said broken computer?” Logan asked, one eyebrow slowly being raised.  
“Well, um, you see, the problem is,” Roman started to stumble over his words, searching for a way to tell Logan without actually telling him.  
Logan watched him stumble for about a minute before the corner of his mouth twitched in amusement and he said, “I know what the issue is, come with me.” Roman blushed slightly as he followed Logan into the bedroom, where Logan quickly dug around in his top desk drawer before pulling out a flash drive. He turned and handed it to Roman with a simple, “Here. Just plug this into your computer and it should take care of your little problem.”  
“Woah!” Roman said, holding the flash drive up in front of him in amazement. “You really are a hacker, like Patton said! You are like computer magic!”  
“I’m not a hack-” Logan sighed, rubbing at his temples with one hand. “And it’s not magic. It’s just ones and zeros. And we’re just atoms. And our perception of reality is just chemical reactions. Take those away and poof, there goes the universe.”  
Roman looked at him before saying, “Woah.”  
Logan sighed again, “Sorry, just, that should fix your problem. You should go now.”  
“Are you sure, buddy?” Roman asked, now extremely concerned.  
“Yeah, don’t worry about me. I think like that all the time. Especially when frustrated. But I’m okay,” Logan gave him a smile and Roman took that as his cue to leave. He quickly said goodbye and headed out, determined to at least try to make it home before dark. 

“Is that you?” a voice called from the living room as Roman tried to quietly slip back inside.  
Roman froze for a moment before calling back, “Yeah Dad.”  
“Come in for a minute,” his dad called back and Roman obliged, walking into the living room to see his dad sitting in front of the tv, enjoying pointless late night talk show hosts. “What were you up to today?” his dad asked, hitting mute on the television.  
“My computer was acting up, so I went to see Logan to fix it,” Roman explained, watching the host of the show introduce the next guest.  
“Logan?” his dad asked, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.  
“Yeah, Patton’s boyfriend. I used to hang out with him sometimes in high school,” Roman explained. As his dad continued to look at him, obviously trying to place Logan in his brain, Roman prayed he wouldn’t say anything. He hadn’t, not since Roman came out himself, but it had been a while since he had seen his father either.  
Finally, his dad turned back to the tv, saying, “That’s right. I like Logan. Smart kid.”  
Roman gave him a small smile, “Yeah, he is.”  
He started to turn to leave the room, but his dad spoke up again, “I used to work with his dad.”  
Roman turned back in surprise. In all his years hanging out with Logan, he had never heard him mention his family and Patton had asked him not to push about it. This was slightly surprising, “You did?”  
“Yeah. And after we both got laid off, I used to see him at the bar quite a lot,” his dad continued. Roman’s eyes fell to the ground as the room fell into a slightly uncomfortable silence. After a long minute, his dad spoke again, “After I quit drinking, I didn’t see him as much.” His dad let out one last shuddering breath before saying, “Good night, little prince.”  
Roman perked up slightly, “Good night Dad.”  
Back in his room, Roman stood before his laptop, saying a slight prayer as he plugged the flash drive in, “Please, please work.” He cautiously powered it on and sat there, nibbling on his nails as he waited for the start-up to finish. Finally, he made it through the log-in screen and his background appeared, but no pop-up ads. “Yes!” Roman jumped up, his bed bouncing him as he celebrated the recovery of his laptop. His messenger app popped up, revealing that Logan was trying to talk to him.  
LBerry: Did it work?  
Roman quickly typed back a reply.  
RomanoTaco: yup! thanks so much!  
LBerry: No problem.  
Another message quickly popped up.  
PattyCake: dijd Logan hack ur comp and get all dat “issues” cleared  
RomanoTaco: he didnt hack it he gave me a flashdrive  
PattyCake: DUDE  
PattyCake: YOU  
RomanoTaco: please dont  
PattyCake: HAD  
PattyCake: SO  
RomanoTaco: patton….  
PattyCake: MUCH  
RomanoTaco: PATTON FOSTER!  
PattyCake: ugh u never let me hve any fun  
RomanoTaco: i really dont want to talk about it  
PattyCake: fine  
PattyCake: hey u comin to te party tomorow  
RomanoTaco: what party  
PattyCake: theres one out in the wods  
PattyCake: u should ask virg to drive us  
RomanoTaco: why me  
PattyCake: cause  
RomanoTaco: …  
RomanoTaco: fine  
PattyCake: yay! U da bes! Hell say yes hes always drivin me nd Lo places  
RomanoTaco: okay im heading to bed  
PattyCake: same!  
Roman was about to hit log off, when he noticed Remy’s chat message box. He carefully scrolled over to click on it.  
SleepyRemy is offline.  
Roman sighed. He didn’t know why he didn’t think of anything less. Nonetheless, he still typed a message.  
RomanoTaco: Missing you buddy


	4. Day 4 (Saturday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter trigger warnings: Mention of past violence, mention of past domestic violence, mention of past alcoholism, party so people get drunk, mention of minor character death, mention of past bullying

Roman headed out late even for him the next day, well into the afternoon actually, on a mission to find Virgil, ask him to take them to the party, and somehow not get yelled at by him. He still couldn’t figure out what he had said the first time to get yelled at, but Virgil had grown scarier with age and he didn’t want to experience that again.  
Roman quickly made his way down to the Ol’ Pickaxe and spotted Virgil through the front window muttering as he leaned forward onto the counter, his dark eyeshadow, wide eyes, and slight bedhead adding to the crazed look. Roman tried to push open the door as quietly as he could, but the bell above still jingled, snapping Virgil’s gaze to him, his fingers that were rolling an unlit cigarette stilling as an awkward silence filled the room. “Um, hi,” Roman gave an awkward little wave as he slightly blushed as Virgil continued to stare at him. There was another silence before Roman asked, “What’s going on? You’re starting to resemble a crazy person.”  
“Starting to?” Virgil raised an eyebrow.  
“Well, more than usual,” Roman tried to give Virgil a small smile.  
Virgil huffed and turned his gaze away, “Just had a delivery today. Rock salt cause winter is coming in. And I am not moving all that salt by myself.”  
“I can help!” When Virgil turned back to Roman with that same impassive look, Roman continued, “I have muscles and I would be more than willing to be free labour.”  
At that, Virgil snorted, “Only idiots agree to do something for free.”  
Roman narrowed his eyes, “Hey!”  
Virgil stuck the cigarette into the pocket of the shirt he was wearing that day, “So, what constituted you coming all the way here and bothering me?”  
“Oh, um, Patton wanted me to ask you if you could drive him, me, and Logan to a party?” Roman reached up to scratch his neck.  
“Patton wanted you to ask to drive you three to a party?” Virgil reiterated, just blinking at him.  
“Yeah, there is a party happening out in the woods to-”  
“I know what party!” Virgil snapped, cutting Roman off.  
“Oh, um,” Roman lowered his arm, sticking his hands in his jacket pockets.  
“This is Possum Springs, there aren’t that many parties,” Virgil stated after taking a minute to collect himself again. “But yeah, I’ll pick you guys up.”  
“Okay, thanks!” Roman started to dance out the door.  
He was stopped by Virgil calling out, “Wait!” He turned to see Virgil staring at him with that annoyingly blank expression again. “I’ll be by your house at eight. Do not make me wait cause I won’t.”  
Roman finger-gunned him as he started backwards out the door, “Don’t worry! I’m mister on time to everything!” He heard Virgil snort as the door swung shut behind him and smiled to himself as he started down the street to share the news with Patton.

“HELLLLLLLLO!” Patton called out as Roman walked into the Snack Falcon, pulling his jacket closer around him to bite off the chill of the store’s air conditioning that was still running for some reason.  
“Hey, Pat!” Roman said, starting to scan the snacks by Patton’s counter. “Virgil said yes to driving us to the party, so we are good to go.”  
“Told ya!” Patton gave him a small smirk, before snapping his fingers as he remembered something. “Oh! So I found out today that Toby is going to be there. Is that going to be a problem?”  
Roman faltered, staring at one bag of off-brand onion chips as he heard himself respond, “No, it won’t be a problem.”  
He could practically hear Patton tilting his head behind him, “Are you sure?”  
“Of course I’m sure! Why wouldn’t I be?” Roman quickly grabbed the bag of chips as he turned around to give Patton a blinding smile. Patton raised an eyebrow, but before he could question Roman further, Roman stepped forward to ask, “How much for these?”  
Patton looked down at the chips and back up at him, “They’re on the house.”  
“No, how much?” Roman tried to push.  
“On the house,” Patton repeated defiantly.  
“Fine,” Roman dug into his pocket, pulling out the two wadded dollars he found in there, dropping them on the counter. “See you when Virgil picks us up.” And then Roman left the store and started towards home. He only made it a couple of storefronts before stopping, looking down at the bag of chips in his hand. He crushed the bag before throwing it into a nearby trashcan and starting off again.

“Roman!” Both his parents looked up as Roman walked into the kitchen, slightly surprised to find both his parents home for once. “You’re here!” His mom exclaimed. “At dinnertime! Are you hungry?”  
Roman stepped forward, his stomach growling as he looked over the set table, “What are we having?”  
“Tacos!” His mother said cheerfully before stopping as she added, “Unless you already ate? Or you’re planning to eat before or at your party?”  
“I’m always hungry for tacos,” Roman said in complete seriousness, before giving her a huge smile, taking off his jacket as he did.  
His mom gave a slight cheer as she turned to pull out another plate. His dad folded his newspaper up as he gruffly said, “Glad to hear that, son.”  
And for a brief half an hour, Roman was able to pretend that this was normal for their family. That they were all home together at the same time, that he actually ate dinner with them on a regular basis. That he didn’t still flinch every time there was a sound that was too loud for him to handle in their house just because of one night.

“Alright mister, this is it,” Roman said, upstairs into his mirror. He had neatly combed his hair, trying to tame the mass of curls that weren’t quite as out of control as Patton’s were but were annoying enough. “This is your chance to get back out there and talk to people and have a great time.” He tried to puff himself up but deflated once again. “This is pointless,” he muttered to himself as he poked at the layer of fat around his belly that existed due to one too many nights eating a whole pizza in one sitting. “I’m short, I’m fat, I dress like a slob. I still have that stupid ‘Killer’ reputation. I can’t impress these people, I’ve known them since nursery school at the Church.” Roman looked back up, grimacing to himself at his red-tinted eyes. They could be considered brown if someone was being charitable. But he fell back on the name the other kids used to tease him with in elementary school as he self-deprecated to himself, “Look at you, nightmare eyes. Can’t hold a job. Can’t stay in school. Just a wandering soul stuck in his parent’s house because he can’t figure out what he is doing in his own life.” He sighed to himself again, before smirking to himself, “No. It’s not that people don’t like you. It’s that you don’t like people. Yeah, that is. There is a level of respect that one must earn to be friends with the like of you. The world just doesn’t understand the level of artiste you bring to them.” Roman jumped as he heard a honk downstairs, obviously Virgil having pulled up out front. “They’re here,” he muttered to himself before looking back up at the mirror. “Go get them, kid.”  
Out in the car, Roman found that Virgil had already picked Patton and Logan up. “Get in loser, we’re going to a party!” Virgil shouted out his window, hitting the horn once again.  
Roman laughed as he scrambled into the passenger seat, Patton and Logan already sitting as close as possible in the back seat, “I didn’t take you for being a fan of Mean Girls.”  
“I’m not,” Virgil stated as Roman buckled in and they started down the road. “You made me watch it when we were ten.”  
“Oh,” Roman fell silent as did the rest of the car. They continued in the slightly uncomfortable silence, although probably not as much for Patton and Logan, all the way there. Roman thought about saying something, but they arrived before he could work up the courage too. The group started down the path to the woods, spreading out as they arrived.  
Roman’s face lit up in excitement as he spotted a bonfire, the flames reaching high above him. He started walking around, not necessarily avoiding people, but not wanting to talk to anyone before he had a feel for the party. He recognized nearly everyone as being within a few grades above or below himself and it was weird to see all these people that he hadn’t seen since a few weeks after his graduation and how much they had changed. But that stopped when he reached the other side of the bonfire as he spotted his high school ex, Toby. Despite his brave words to Patton earlier, Roman immediately felt the panic swell up inside him and he ran over to the first more familiar face he could find, bumping his face into the back of the person, hiding from view of everyone else.  
“What the hell are you doing?” Roman looked up to see Virgil staring over his own shoulder down at him with a confused look on his face.  
“Oh, well,” Roman took a step back, suddenly feeling slightly awkward and embarrassed about his reaction, especially considering the person he ran to hide behind was Virgil, who was surprisingly not raining down hellfire on Roman for his actions.  
Virgil looked down at him, back to a blank look, before saying, “You know, Roman, you should actually go talk to some of these people. You used to be somewhat of a social butterfly back in the day. Do it again.”  
“What if I don’t want to talk to these people? What if I want to stay here and talk to you and…” he trailed off as he realized that he didn’t recognize the girl that Virgil was talking to, which meant she was significantly younger than both of them and still in high school or from another town. Roman hoped it was another town.  
Virgil snorted at that, “Don’t be a hermit, Roman. They die in the middle of winter waiting on pizza from friends they don’t wanna see.”  
“Fine!” Roman turned and stomped away, careful to skirt around the opposite side of the bonfire from where Toby was still standing. He stopped at the keg to grab a drink before continuing to where Patton and Logan were still standing near where they walked in. “Hey guys, are you enjoying the party?” he asked before taking a sip of his beer. He immediately spits it back out, “That is disgusting!”  
“Yeah, that is alcohol for you,” Logan raised an eyebrow at him, his flannel shirt that he had opted to wear for the party flapping a bit in the wind. “Did you not drink at college?”  
“No, could never really get past the taste,” Roman took another sip, swallowing this time with a grimace.  
“Well, you don’t have to drink it bud. Logan isn’t,” Patton spoke up as Logan lifted his bottle of water to demonstrate. “And I just have one and am done.”  
“Then why do you come?” Roman asked, raising an eyebrow.  
“To socialize,” Patton chirped.  
“Then why are you standing over here by yourself?” Roman looked around, noting that almost no one was near them.  
“I don’t like people,” Logan hugged his arms closer around himself, only loosening one to let Patton slip his own arm through.  
“Okay, I’m going to go try and socialize,” Roman turned to try and walk away, but noticed that Toby had walked around into his line of sight. He immediately downed his entire drink and turned back to Logan and Patton, crushing his cup in his hand.  
“Are you okay?” Patton peered around him to see what caused the sudden distress. “Oh, you’re not okay.”  
“I’m fine. It was a long time ago and a breakup is a breakup,” Roman said, more to himself than to his friends.  
“Still,” Logan tried to point out, “You guys were together for a while and you left town only a few months after the breakup and you haven’t seen each other since. It makes sense that you haven’t fully processed everything that happened and it will cause some emotional distress upon seeing him for right now.”  
“And you were super mad after the breakup. Remember how you decided to write that one song, ‘Go Get Dead, Angel Face?’” Patton said with a giggle.  
Roman narrowed his eyes, “I thought we agreed to never talk about ‘Go Get Dead, Angel Face’ ever again.”  
“We did,” Logan nudged Patton in the ribs to stop his snickering.  
“Whatever,” Roman rolled his eyes. “I’m going to actually talk to people.” When Roman passed the keg again, he filled up because as he convinced himself, “You can never have too much liquid courage.” He drank it by the time he reached Virgil again, bumping into him slightly, the empty cup dangling in his hand.  
“What?” Virgil snapped at him, his conversation with the same girl being interrupted once more.  
Roman squinted his eyes as he dramatically looked up at him, “Virgil, you’re kinda grouchy. Did you know that?”  
Virgil rolled his eyes as he took a sip of his water that he seemed to have brought with him as well. It seemed like Roman was the only one not smart enough to bring his own drink and was getting buzzed instead. “No, I didn’t,” Virgil muttered under his breath.  
At the same time, the girl he was talking to scoffed, “Rude.” But at a glare from Virgil, she shut up again.  
The three stood there in some sort of awkward silence as Virgil was clearly unwilling to keep talking before Roman asked, “How long are we staying?”  
Virgil looked at him in shock, “We just got here.”  
“Oh,” Roman started to zone out once more.  
He was brought back to reality when he felt a tentative touch on his shoulder and looked over to see it was Virgil’s hand, “How many drinks did you have?”  
Roman shrugged his hand off, feeling as though Virgil was patronizing his somewhat, “Just two!”  
Virgil turned back, “Pace it out, Roman. You’re tiny.”  
Roman huffed and stomped away, immediately back over to the peg, downing another drink just to prove to Virgil that he could. The whole world blurred slightly just a minute later and as he tried to focus his vision again, he lost his cup. He wandered through the party, saying hi to random people including, he was pretty sure, Toby, eventually making his way back over to Patton and Logan. By this point, he was slightly swaying on his feet and the two were looking concerned.  
“Are you okay?” he heard Patton’s voice pierce through the haze that was beginning to surround him as a result of drinking way too much way too fast.  
Roman blinked as the haze suddenly cleared and he could see his two friends in front of him in sudden, sharp detail. “You and Logy are so…” he trailed off as he lost the words he was going to say, chasing after them in his own mind.  
“Logy?” Logan raised an eyebrow.  
“Are so cute!” Roman exclaimed as he found a new even better word. “Did you know that Patpat?”  
Patton just laughed, “I did know that, Ro.”  
“Hey Logy!” Roman leaned forward with his whole body to poke Logan, who merely reached out a hand to steady him. “My dad knows your dad! They hung out at the bar. But my dad had to stop cause he was a danger to me and my mom.” Roman started laughing hysterically to himself.  
“Dude!” Patton said, taking a step forward in what Roman wasn’t sure if it was anger or concern.  
Logan had jerked his hand back at the mention of his dad and merely stated, “Roman, you shouldn’t drink anymore. Ever.”  
“I’m fine!” Roman did a couple spins to try and prove it, but only succeeded in making himself dizzy and he stumbled, trying to catch his bearings.  
“Shouldn’t he sit down?” Logan muttered to Patton.  
“Yeah, he should,” Patton stepped forward again, this time leading Roman over to a tree stump to sit on, Logan trailing behind him. “Now stay here. Let some of the alcohol work its way through your system.” He got up and walked back over to Logan, muttering to his boyfriend, “He’s going to have a hell of a hangover in the morning.”  
After Patton walked away, Roman zoned out, losing the conversations around him as he stared forward at the bonfire. He watched the flames leaping up higher and higher, the sparks crackling above them. He watched as the fire ate at the wood that was feeding it, watching as everything around the fire degraded and turned black with ash as the fire sucked anything living from all it could reach. He watched what seemed to be fire dancers moving through the flames to the tune of a guitar player in the background, the smoke swirling above like puppet strings of trapped dancers. Roman was intrigued by this strange world he seemed to be watching that was visible to only him.  
He didn’t know how long he was sitting there staring, but it clearly wasn’t long enough before someone heart-achingly familiar stepped into his line of vision. “Hey Roman,” Toby said. “I didn’t realize you were in town this weekend.”  
Roman looked up at him and just tiredly says, “Shut up.”  
Toby faltered for a moment, “What?”  
“Shut up. I hate stupid cute people. Always able to get what they want with a bat of their eyelashes,” Roman all but growled. Toby opened his mouth to start to say something, but Roman interrupts him, climbing to his feet on top of the tree stump, “And look at me! A scary looking short dude with nightmare eyes! Like if I tried to murder someone, I would be all stab stab and the police would show up and the person would be still just alive and the police would ask who did this and the person would just be like nightmare eyes! And then they would die!”  
“Hey, new nickname!” Roman turned to see Patton smiling up at him as he and Logan had wandered over during his very loud speech.  
“Don’t eff with me!” Roman shouted down at them.  
“Yeah, eff the world!” Patton hollered.  
He was stopped by Logan putting one hand on his shoulder, saying, “Okay, you’re threatening people.”  
Roman kept going, not noticing that by now he had attracted the attention of everyone there, “And college! Don’t get me started on stupid college! All those stupid rich kids! Writing sex and having papers!”  
“Close enough!” Logan laughed slightly.  
Roman, however, was starting to have trouble getting all the words out before they flitted out of his brain but was determined to keep going, “Stupid statue pointing at me. Just shapes. Never had a chance here, can’t leave. Home things make sense…” He finally trailed off, standing there, another wave of dizziness hitting him.  
“Um, are you okay, Ro?” he vaguely could hear Patton, but it sounded like he was miles away.  
Roman just moaned before puking right where he stood, off the side of the stump he was standing on. “Tacos…” he moaned, rubbing at one eye as his vision finally faded and he felt himself falling.

When he came to, he was sitting curled up in a moving vehicle. Roman turned his slightly to his left, seeing two hands, one flicking between the steering wheel and a cigarette and the other just drumming against the side of the wheel. They hit a bump and Roman could feel his stomach lurch again as he heard Virgil beside him, “I swear, if you throw up in this car, I will murder you and leave you on the side of the road for the wild animals to eat.” Roman just moved his head back to the other side, staring out at the scenery rushing by. He heard Virgil sigh beside him, “Why would you even drink three beers in half an hour? We weren’t even there that long!”  
“What happened to us, Virgil?” Roman murmured.  
“Why did you- What?” Virgil, who was starting to go off on a rant, faltered and stopped at Roman’s question. “What do you mean what happened to us?”  
“Remember when we used to be best friends,” Roman gave a weak smile to himself. “We had fun in scouts as kids. We would spend every recess together. You were the only one I let get away with calling me Princey because you were the only one who knew my dad called me little prince when I was younger. I called you Anx as we got older because you started going into that emo phase of yours and you hated all the other nicknames I tried to come up with. And I would come over whenever I was having a bad day at home. Your mom made the best cinnamon cookies. I like your mom. She was always so nice to me.”  
“My mom is dead,” Virgil cut him off with a hiss.  
Roman jerked his head over, waiting a moment as the wave of dizziness that hit him faded away before asking, “What?”  
“Really?” Virgil snapped. “It happened senior year of high school! You don’t even have the excuse that you were gone because you were very much present in this town! And you didn’t even know!”  
“I, I-” Roman tried to speak, feeling tears well up in his eyes as everything that happened that evening finally hit him.  
“What happened to you?” Virgil demanded. “You used to be cool! You used to be smart! You used to be worth talking to! Why did you leave college? Was it inconvenient? Were you not in the mood? I would kill for that! An opportunity to get out of this stupid town! Still would. I would kick you out of this car right now if I could go to college.”  
Roman started actually crying by now. Stop, he was trying to tell himself, but all the emotions hitting him from every direction were causing him to spiral. He vaguely felt the car stop and heard Virgil say, “Just look at you. You’re a mess.”  
His entire world spun as he felt himself being picked up and by the time it realigned, he was upstairs lying in his bed, Virgil setting a full water bottle and a bucket from the garage by his bed. “I’m sorry,” he hoarsely whispered. “I know I’m a terrible person.”  
“Yeah well, you just need to grow up,” Virgil said, but the bite from earlier was gone, leaving his words empty as his expression.  
Roman scoffed as he felt Virgil pull his blanket over him, “I’m older than you by two months.”  
Virgil blinked at him and then gave him a sad smile, “Yeah well, I stayed here and got older while you went off and stayed the same.” Roman finally felt his eyelids close, the exhaustion of the night catching up to him, but he could have sworn in the morning that he heard Virgil say, “Good night, Princey,” as he finally fell asleep.

The world was slightly blurry around him, the building leaking pink and orange. Roman could barely keep his eyes open, blinking heavily. He felt something heavy in his hand and looked down to see his old softball bat from his games in high school. Something pricked the back of his brain, telling him that the bat had been destroyed and shouldn’t be here, but he ignored it to enjoy the familiar weight of an old friend in his hand. He looked up again to see a light pole directly in front of him that wasn’t there before. It had the appearance of melting, the yellow light coming from it cutting through the pinks and oranges that surrounded him. Roman pulled back the bat and swung, effectively shattering the lightbulb above, cutting the yellow light off. He looked down the path he realized he was standing on to see more light poles, and stepped forward, determined to destroy every last one of them.  
Roman continued along the path, smashing each light pole, the shattering sound mellifluous to his ears as the harsh yellows cut out one by one. Eventually, he reached the edge of the path, and he started to breathe in relief when something harsh and yellow lit up the world in front of him. He glared up at it, his teeth clenched, his eyes squinting. It was a large statue made of broken parts vaguely resembling a human with one large finger pointing down at him. Roman could feel the rage building up inside and he let out a cry as he ran forward, his bat raised over his head.  
By the time the metaphorical red in his eyes cleared, he was breathing heavily, staring at the broken, rusted pieces surrounding him. Roman could feel the bat falling out of his hand as he dropped to his knees. He became acutely aware that everything had stopped around him. The colours and buildings had stilled in a half-swirled, half-melted state. There wasn’t even the sound of the wind rushing by as all he could hear was his own struggling heartbeat and laboured breath. Roman looked up as he could suddenly feel everything around him dissolve as the entire world turned white.


	5. Day 5 (Sunday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter trigger warnings: Petty crimes, morbid stories about the stars, Deceit shows up as a minor character who won't be back (like most minor characters, sorry)

The entire world swirled back into focus as Roman blinked his eyes awake the next morning. He sat up with a groan, placing one hand to his head as it started pounding, letting him know that he was indeed hungover. Grateful for the bottle of water left by his bed, Roman took his time getting up and ready that afternoon, taking his time to shower properly and take as many pain pills as he knew his parents would allow. Downstairs, he found his mom buttering some toast, a book lying open on the table.  
“Hey Mom,” he said, trying his best to sound cheerful as he sat down at the table instead of hopping up on the counter like he usually did.  
She places the plate of toast in front of him with a kiss to the top of his head, “Hey sweetie. Rough night last night?”  
“Yeah,” Roman groaned. “I am never going to drink again.”  
His mom laughed, sitting back down in front of her book, “Good. We’ll let this one go as you’ve obviously learned your lesson and you are technically an adult. But if it happens again, your father and I may need to intervene. With hammers and nails to the roof.”  
“Point taken,” Roman nervously took a bite of toast, his stomach still a little queasy, but quickly started eating as he found the toast settled his stomach rather than upset it more.  
“So what happened last night?” his mom asked.  
Roman frowned down at his half-eaten piece of toast, “I don’t really remember much. I remember that there was a lot of people. I’m pretty sure there was a bonfire. Toby was there. But beyond that, nothing.” His mom hummed and he looked up to see her staring at him with that inquisitive look of hers like he was a puzzle to solve. “What?” he asked, confused.  
“Nothing,” she said simply. “Are you doing anything today?”  
“Probably going to go see what Virgil and Patton are up to. Thank them for putting up with me last night,” Roman shrugged.  
“That sounds like fun dear. I need to go to work now,” his mom put a bookmark into her book and gave him one last kiss before grabbing her purse and heading out. “Have a good day!”  
“You too, Mom!” Roman called back and as he heard the door click shut, he whispered to himself, “You too.” 

“So why are we looking at the sky when it is still light out?” Roman asked, taking care to hold the telescope steady as Dr Picani tightened the bolts to hold it in place.  
“Because we aren’t looking for actual constellations. We are looking for dusk stars!” Dr Picani stood up straight, carefully stepping back as he signalled for Roman to let go of the telescope. The two were carefully perched on the roof of Dr Picani’s house where he had a stand bolted in, although they had to set up the telescope.  
“Dusk stars?” Roman stepped around to where Dr Picani had crouched down to ruffle through a box he had brought up with him.  
“Yup! They are stars that one can only see when the sun is setting and then only during a few days a year each. Very unique, but autumn happens to be the prime time for spotting them, which is why we are looking for them specifically today. Aha!” Dr Picani pulled a piece of film paper out of the box with a flourish before walking over and slotting it into the telescope. “But, because the sun is still in the sky, we need this filter to see past it and to the stars beyond without getting blinded.”  
“That is so cool!” Roman awwwed over the contraption.  
Dr Picani gave him a huge grin, “My thoughts exactly! Let’s see what we can find.” He leaned down moving the telescope through the sky, adjusting a few knobs as needed. “There we go!” He took a step back, gesturing to the telescope, “Take a look.”  
Roman stepped forward to look himself, immediately spotting a strange looking star, another cluster of stars surrounding it, “What is it?”  
“That star is known as Castys. Do you know the story?” Dr Picani asked.  
Roman shook his head, “I feel like I should know it cause I recognize the name, but I can’t seem to recall it.  
“That’s quite alright,” Dr Picani said with a laugh. “Castys is an old story about a woman who decided to try to build a tower to heaven.”  
“And what happened to her?” Roman asked, looking up at Dr Picani.  
“The same thing that happens to all people in old stories that try to reach further than the gods feel they should. They threw her out of the sky all the way to the deepest part of the sea.” Dr Picani gave a slight chuckle before adding, “The stories never say that she died though.”  
“Never died,” Roman gasped. “How could she possibly not die?”  
“Too stubborn I guess,” Dr Picani said with a laugh. “Now why don’t you see if you can find another one yourself?”  
Roman carefully took hold of the telescope, scanning the sky as he moved it. After a few minutes, he stopped on a star that looked very similar to the one that Dr Picani had located earlier. “Is this one?” he took a step back to allow his former teacher to check.  
“Ah yes,” Dr Picani said. “Dohr the Murderer.”  
“Wait! I actually know this one!” Roman said. “That is the guy who didn’t say anything when the king was passing and the king was insulted so he insulted Dohr, then his family, his farm, all the way down to his chickens! So Dohr turned around and murdered the king’s chickens, his household, his family, and finally the king himself. It was really creepy and gory.”  
“Ah, still one for the horror genre, I see,” Dr Picani said, one eyebrow raised at the boy beside him.  
“Yeah, well, there tended to be a lot more action in those stories. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good romance. But there is just something about a good ol’ murder story that I enjoy,” Roman explained.  
Dr Picani laughed again, “Well, that is all the stars that are visible today. Come see me again in a couple of days?”  
“Wouldn’t miss it Dr Picani!” Roman waved to him as he walked over to the edge of the roof.  
“What are you doing boy? The ladder is on the other side,” Dr Picani suddenly said in worry.  
“Don’t worry, I got this,” Roman took a few steps back and then ran and leapt onto the roof of the next door building, which was only a few feet away and he honestly could have stepped onto if he wasn’t so dramatic. He turned to wave at Dr Picani who just shook his head in exasperation. Roman continued along the roofs of downtown, climbing up and down ladders, walking ledges, and clearing small gaps between the few buildings that were actually separated. He enjoyed feeling the rush of the dangerous roof jumping that he had been told a million times not to do, just like he loved tightrope walking the power lines, although he was holding off doing that just yet. He didn’t want another incident with Uncle Mall Cop after already having one this week.  
It wasn’t until he dropped onto the sealed chimney of City Hall that he found someone else on the roofs. A certain someone with blue and pink hair that looks unnaturally fluffy. “Hey, Talyn right?” Roman said jumping down onto the roof next to them. Talyn looked up at him, their legs swinging off the edge of the building they sat on, a good four stories above where the rest of the town was walking. “Mind if I join you?”  
“It’s a free country,” Talyn shrugged, their nonchalant attitude almost contagious as Roman sat next to them, enjoying the changing sky. After a few silent minutes, Talyn finally spoke up, softly saying, “I love it up here. Where I can just escape everyone and everything. No sister demanding I be this or go there. Just away from everyone.”  
Roman gave his own soft smile, but broke the mood, asking, “I know you said your dad disappeared, but where is your mom? Did she disappear too? Is that why your sister is raising you?”  
Talyn’s face dropped just a little bit, as they continued to look off in the distance. Instead of answering Roman’s question though, they merely said, “I get panic attacks. That is why I come up here. It is the only place my sister has yet to find me. And that is only because she is terrified of heights.”  
Roman worried his lip as he tried to think of a way to remedy the situation he had caused with this punk, but he finally just stood up and said, “I gotta get going. Will I see you around?”  
Talyn looked up at him, a twinkle of mischief in their eye, “Perhaps Killer. Perhaps.”  
Roman just sighed and continued his journey across the roofs of downtown Possum Springs. 

Roman finally had to climb off the buildings when he reached old miner’s bar as the building that used to be next door had been knocked down and replaced with the Snack Falcon, an establishment that was meant to look modern and chic, but instead looking out of place when surrounded by the buildings that had been built a hundred years ago and barely maintained since. He reached the ground and was about to enter to visit Patton when Patton walked out of the building, running smack into Roman and they both collapsed onto the sidewalk.  
“Ow!” Roman cried out as he sat back up, rubbing at the back of his head where it had hit the concrete. He looked up to see Patton sitting in front of him, looking slightly dazed, the bridge of his glasses bent. “Oh, Patton! I’m so sorry!” Roman leapt forward to pull off Patton’s glasses and was as careful as possible straightening the wires with expertise.  
Patton blinked, his vision readjusting as Roman put the glasses back on him. He looked up to where Roman had pushed himself to his feet in front of him and gasped, pushing himself up while ignoring Roman’s outstretched hand. Patton grabbed Roman’s face with both hands, “Oh no Roman! You got hurt!”  
“What?” Roman reached up with one hand to rub at his forehead where Patton was staring, looking down at the blood that came away with it.  
“Come on,” Patton hooked one arm around Roman, dragging him along the sidewalk. “There is band practice today and I know there is a first aid kit there. We can fix you up in a jiffy.”  
Roman rolled his eyes, perplexed as always at how Patton always freaked out over his friend’s injuries. They quickly reached the Party Barn where Logan had already arrived, having ditched his tie already as he was connecting cables. This time he had help from someone Roman vaguely recognized wearing an orange beanie and ripped jeans. Logan looked up, his expression quickly turning to surprise. “What happened?” he asked, dropping the cable in his hand as he jumped off the stage to get a better look at Roman’s face.  
“He’s fine!” Patton laughed. “We just had a little run-in that’s all.” And with that, Patton dropped Roman’s arm and skipped off to find the first-aid kit.  
When Logan raised an eyebrow, Roman explained, “I was on my way into Snack Falcon as Patton was on his way out. We literally ran into each other. I think I cut my head on his glasses.”  
Logan just sighed, as Patton reappeared next to him, holding a slightly dented first aid kit. “Alright,” Logan said. “Sit down, I’ll patch you up.”  
By the time Virgil arrived a few minutes later, Roman had a band-aid on his forehead, the group had finished setting up for practice, and Roman had approached the other person, who he had recognized as Joan, a strange teen that had been a year behind them in high school.  
“Joan, right?” Roman said, one hand outstretched towards them.  
“That’s right. Roman?” Joan said, reaching out to shake Roman’s hand.  
“Yup. You got a pretty okay name,” Roman said, dropping his hand. “What are you doing here?”  
“As do you,” Joan said with a laugh. “I come to watch. I’m not really the kind of person to play in a band, but I try my best to help Patton with the songwriting. He needed it after you and Remy both left.”  
“Not the kind to play in a band? Does that mean you can play an instrument?” Roman asked.  
Joan just smirked at him as Virgil walked up, setting his laptop down on his setup. “When are we getting started?” Virgil asked as he started connecting things to his laptop.  
“Whenever Patton says,” Joan answered, turning towards where Patton and Logan were discussing something in hushed tones. “He is the leader. And he is the one who is always either holding us up or making us go faster.”  
Roman laughed, “Sounds like nothing much has changed then.” He walked over to his bass, putting it on as Joan hopped off the stage before calling out, “Hey lovebirds! Are we going to get started or what?”  
Logan and Patton both turned to look at him and Patton’s face broke out in a huge grin, “Of course! Let’s get started.” Logan, on the other hand, looked slightly annoyed.  
After practice and cleanup, Virgil took off again, saying that he had come in on his break to play and needed to get back to work. Roman turned to Logan and Patton to ask, “Well, do you guys want to hang out then?”  
“I can’t,” Logan said, grabbing a satchel and putting it on. “I have family stuff tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow.” The last part he said more to Patton as headed out without even a glance backwards.  
Roman turned to Patton, slightly confused by Logan’s behaviour, but Patton cut in before Roman could ask any questions, “Hey, do you want to help me with a super secret project?”  
“A super secret project?” Roman questioned as Patton grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the building and through town.  
“Yup!” Patton squealed before having another thought and launching into a story about something that had happened to him and Logan the last spring.  
Roman half-listened as he enjoyed the crisp fall air and the sun that was almost completely below the horizon by now, leaving the world in a strange twilight zone. But the two kept walking out of the edge of town and Roman quickly recognized the building they were approaching. “That is depressing,” he muttered as the two reached it.  
“Awww, I thought it was rawwww,” Patton pouted.  
“No, I meant the abandoned Food Donkey,” Roman gestured up as the large supermarket that had been still operational the last time he was in town and now resembled a strange ghost town with a couple of shopping carts still sitting out in the large parking lot.  
“Oh yeah,” Patton sighed. “It is.”  
“Do you remember how they used to make us do those colouring pages in second grade that were all Food Donkey themed to put up in the windows? Like the donkey at Thanksgiving,” Roman recalled with a giggle.  
“Oh yeah!” Patton laughed. “Donkturks.”  
“Durnkeys,” Roman suggested as the two dissolved into a fit of laughter. “What are we doing here anyway?”  
“Crimes,” Patton said with a smile as he stepped forward, pushing the door open.  
“Patton!” Roman quickly ran forward after him into the dark building. Patton pulled a small flashlight out his pocket and shined it around.  
“Hey!” a sudden voice called out.  
Roman’s eyes narrowed as he recognized the guy in black and yellow stepping out from the shadows of the store. “What are you doing here, Dee?” he demanded.  
Dee smirked as he recognized Roman, “Your mom.”  
“Great,” Roman gritted his teeth, one hand already clenching into a fist.  
Patton put one hand upon his shoulder, “We’re here to pick it up, Dee. Just like we agreed.”  
Dee looked between the two before saying, “Alright, it’s back here.”  
As the two followed him deeper into the store, Roman leaned over, whispering in Patton’s ear, “What did you do, Patton? You know how creepy this guy is.”  
They stopped at a door that looked like it used to be some sort of storage room. Patton stepped forward to try the door. “Locked,” he announced.  
“Yup,” Dee leaned against the wall next to it, examining his fingernails.  
“Well, can’t you unlock it?” Roman asked.  
“Ha, nope!” Dee gave them another smirk. “Don’t have the key.”  
“Oooooh, can I break the door down?” Patton asked in excitement.  
Dee just chuckled, “Be my guest.”  
“No, Pat. I’ll find a key. There is probably one back in the offices,” Roman said, backing away as Patton beginning pillaging through nearby things for something to break it down. He didn’t really want to leave Patton alone with that guy, but he also knew that Patton could hold his own in a fight if it came to it and they would get out of there so much faster if Roman found a key.  
Roman quickly made his way to the offices, relying on memory from when his dad used to work here. And after some minor pillaging through a few different offices, he found a whole ring of abandoned keys, probably to storage rooms throughout the store. He quickly ran back to the other two to find that Patton had somehow wedged a crowbar in the door that was now being held steady by Dee and was getting ready to hit it with a rubber mallet. “Stop!” Roman shouted as he ran up to them, slightly out of breath. “I found a key, Idiot and Patton.”  
Dee quickly snatched the key ring out of Roman’s hands, allowing the crowbar to clatter to the floor as he started trying the keys. While he did that, Roman leaned over to ask Patton, who was still wielding the mallet, “Patton, why are we doing crimes with this guy?”  
Patton just shrugged, “Robbers can’t be choosers.”  
“They really can,” Roman muttered as the door swung open.  
“You know I can hear you,” Dee said as he started down the stairs that were behind the door.  
Patton and Roman followed him down, the flashlight in Patton’s hands lighting the way. And then Roman saw why they were there. “Oh my gosh!” He squealed as he saw the giant animatronics that used to sit at the front of the store and make creepy sounds every time someone walked by. “I thought they got rid of these after they were deemed too scary for children!”  
“Nope!” Dee said. “They just hid them in the basement.”  
Patton suddenly screeched. “What! What is it!” Roman yelled.  
“I can’t decide which one!” Patton was actually hopping up and down, his whole body shaking in excitement.  
“You’re- you’re taking one of these home?” Roman asked, baffled.  
“Yup! As a gift for Logan! He hasn’t been doing so well lately and I heard these were here and I thought that having one of these would cheer him up. He’s gone till tomorrow night which leaves us plenty of time to move it back to my apartment and get it running again!” Patton explained. “But I can’t pick which one I want!”  
“How about that one?” Roman pointed at the bear.  
Patton gasped, “It’s perfect!”  
“Whatever punks. Just get it out of here, I’ve got people waiting to buy these other two,” Dee rolled his eyes.  
Roman turned to him, “Dee, you are a disease.”  
Dee just huffed and stomped up the stairs as Patton turned to Roman and said, “He says punk like it’s a bad thing.”  
Roman just rolled his eyes, “I don’t care.” Roman and Patton began dismantling the monstrosity and hauling it upstairs. Roman quickly ran outside to grab one of the abandoned shopping carts and they loaded the whole thing inside and rolled it back to the apartment.  
On their way, Roman asked, “Patton, why couldn’t you decide which one of these to get?”  
“Well you know me,” Patton laughed. “I suck at making any decisions that actually matter.”  
“Well, you picked those tuxes we wore to junior prom,” Roman pointed out.  
Patton gave him a faint smile, “Yeah, I did do that. Oh, we’re here!” But after hauling the animatronic upstairs, the two decided they were too tired to actually put the thing together and headed out to the diner for pizza and perigos.  
They were quiet for a moment, opting to eat instead of talk, but as they began to slow down, Roman finally tried to ask Patton, “How are you?”  
Patton looked up in slight shock and swallowed the bit in his mouth. “Oh yeah, I’m good,” he immediately shoved another large bite in his mouth.  
Roman frowned, poking at the last perigo on his plate. “It’s weird, you know. Seeing you at a real job that you actually go to.”  
Patton swallowed again, excited, “Yeah! Got to stay on track with the plan!”  
“The plan?” Roman asked feeling his chest get slightly tight.  
“Yup!” Patton nodded. “We, Logan and me, have a plan to save up and move out to Bright Harbor next spring! We visited my cousin out there this last summer and it was amazing! It had a pier by the ocean and this cute little candy shop and the town was still up on stilts, but there was no risk of sinkholes. And the sunsets…” Patton trailed off, a wistful smile on his face. Then he perked back up, “But that is where I got my tattoo!”  
“Your tattoo?” Roman moved his hands below the table to hide that they had started shaking.  
“Yup! It’s a sheep!” Patton nodded enthusiastically. “And the tattoo guy was like all the way hot and the tattoo didn’t even hurt.”  
“Oh,” Roman said, trying to hold down a whimper in his throat, keeping a smile on his face that he hoped didn’t look too broken.  
“Yeah, but that is why I haven’t done a crime in a long time. The plan, it is really important to Logan. And we can’t do it if I get caught or fired. That is why I picked something we wouldn’t actually get in trouble for. I don’t want to ruin it for him,” Patton said.  
Roman looked up and smiled upon seeing Patton’s smile, despite the tightening in his chest. Finally, he said, “Well, I’m so happy for you, Patton. Getting everything you deserve.”  
Patton’s smile brightened, which eased some of the tightness in Roman’s chest. The two finished up and Roman waved goodbye to Patton outside his apartment and continued home. He was stopped halfway there upon seeing Virgil, standing outside the Ol’ Pickaxe, locking up the building. “Virgil!” he called out with a wave.  
Virgil turned his head in muted surprise, “Oh hey Roman. How are you feeling today?”  
“I’m never drinking again,” Roman said with finality, stopping right in front of him.  
Virgil raised an eyebrow, “Or you can take it easy next time.”  
Roman just shook his head. “I don’t think I do moderation very well,” he admitted.  
Virgil gave a small chuckle, “Now that I can see.”  
Roman smiled, the tightness in his chest finally easing. “Hey, do you want to hang out or something?”  
Virgil’s expression dropped back into his default blank as he looked around at the dark world, “You do realize how late it is getting, right?”  
“Yeah well, I kinda don’t want to go home yet,” Roman reached up to scratch at the back of his neck.  
Virgil narrowed his eyes slightly, almost looking like he was analyzing Roman and any possible outcomes to the suggestion of hanging out. Finally, he sighed and said, “Okay, fine. Where do you want to hang out?”  
“How about we go out to the mall in Ft. Leonard-Wood?” Roman suggested.  
Virgil gave a humourless laugh, “Really? The mall? When was the last time you were there?”  
“I don’t know. Five years or so. Why?” Roman dropped his hand, confused.  
Virgil just shook his head, “Never mind. Let’s go.”

Roman ran through the front doors, excitement coming off him in waves as he shouted, “Yes! Ft. Leonard-Wood Mall, here we come!” He skidded to a sudden stop, staring around him in shock as Virgil sauntered in at a much slower pace. “What happened to this place?” he said in a horrified whisper.  
“The same thing that happens to all things good,” Virgil monotoned as he kept walking past Roman. “The Internet.”  
Roman slowly started following Virgil, “What happened to the bookstore?”  
“The Internet,” Virgil repeated.  
“The Arcade?”  
“The Internet.”  
“The-”  
“You know, I’m just going to make a sign that says ‘The Internet’ and hold it until you’re done talking.”  
Roman rolled his eyes as he continued to follow Virgil, “Hey, the Dollar Store is still open though.”  
Virgil stopped and turned to look at the neon yellow light with Roman, “Yeah, well they rip you off anyway.”  
Roman gasped, “You are so right! I used to think that getting two pencils for a dollar was such a deal! But then I was able to get a pack of twenty for three dollars while at college. They totally ripped me off as a child!”  
Virgil snorted, “Yeah well, you were young and naive then. Actually, not much has changed.”  
“Hey!” Roman protested as the two started off on their trek down the mall once more. “Hey Hot Topic! I found the discount emo store!”  
“No,” Virgil said, coming to a quick stop as Roman ran ahead to the entrance. “We are not going in there.”  
“Oh, come on! They actually have some cool stuff!” Roman ran back to grab Virgil by the arm and dragged him in. He stopped just within the entrance, staring at the t-shirts on the rack. It was an anarchy symbol that looked way too familiar. Roman turned back to Virgil and saw the exact same t-shirt on him under his hoodie.  
Virgil’s ears turned red as he wrapped his hoodie tight around him. “Not one word,” he growled.  
The clerk looked up at them from their magazine. “T-shirts are 20% off,” she droned.  
“Okay, thank!” Roman said, cheerfully and wandered further back into the store, scanning the rows of pins and rings. “I’m going to steal something,” he whispered.  
“What!” Virgil’s voice cracked slightly as he hissed back. “You can’t do that! You’re going to get us thrown out!”  
“Relax! I got this!” Roman waved him off. “It’s just like dinosaurs.”  
“Dinosaurs?” Virgil raised an eyebrow in confusion.  
“Yeah, as long as you stay still while they are looking, they won’t see you. Even when you are in the middle of putting the merchandise in your pocket,” Roman explained.  
“Okay, say you can actually pull this off. What would you steal?” Virgil crossed his arms.  
Roman’s eyes locked onto a shimmering object on one of the nearby shelves, “A belt buckle.”  
“Really?” Virgil said, actually sounding a little disappointed.  
“Yup, big enough for the payoff to be worth it, not so big I would be instantly caught. The perfect size for a petty crime,” Roman said, glancing over to the clerk at the registrar who was way more interested in her phone. “Watch and learn.” Within a minute, the belt buckle had been grabbed and slipped into his pocket. “See, easy-peasy. Now it’s your turn,” Roman smirked at Virgil, poking him in the chest.  
“What, no! I am a store owner. I know how bad stealing can hurt a business. I’m supposed to call the cops on thieves, not be one,” Virgil protested.  
“Come on, just something small! And this isn’t a small town store like your business. It is a chain store. One tiny item won’t hurt them any,” Roman’s smirk grew larger as saw Virgil’s eyes darting around, knowing he could get him to give in any minute.  
Virgil finally sucked in a deep breath and hissed, “Fine, but if anything goes wrong, I’m blaming you.”  
“Join the club,” Roman said as his smirk changed into an actual grin.  
“But you have to distract the clerk! I can’t do it thinking I could possibly get caught,” Virgil said, his eyes darting back over to the clerk who had started side-eyeing them.  
“Not a problem! No one can possibly resist this!” Roman ignored Virgil’s snort as he sauntered over to the clerk who was full-on staring at him as he walked over and Virgil slipped between the shelves. “Hey!”  
The clerk raised an eyebrow, “Uh-huh?”  
“I have a question,” Roman said, folding his hands together and leaning forward on the counter.  
As soon as they left the store, Virgil whispered, “I feel sick about this.”  
Roman patted him on the back, “Let’s walk it off.”  
“No seriously,” Virgil insisted. “I really don’t feel good.”  
Roman looked up at the sign advertising the food court, “Are you hungry?”  
Virgil shook his head, “All the good places shut down already. You?”  
“Ate with Patton at the diner,” Roman explained as they sat down at a table in the food court anyway.  
“Where was Logan?” Virgil asked.  
“Family stuff,” Roman answered. “So, Patton and I prepared a little present for him when he gets back.”  
Virgil raised an eyebrow, “What kind of present?”  
“You know those giant robots that used to be in the front of the old Food Donkey?”  
“... Yeah.”  
“We’re fixing up one of those for him.”  
“He’s not going to like it.”  
Roman raised an eyebrow in surprise, “Wow, rude.”  
“I’m serious,” Virgil leaned forward across the table. “I’ve known Logan for a long time. I’d even say I may know him even better than you because you’ve been gone for a while. He’s not going to like it.”  
“Well, maybe he will appreciate the sentiment? And Patton seems pretty sure,” Roman muttered, playing with the salt and pepper shakers.  
Virgil sighed, “Maybe.” He pushed himself to his feet, “Okay, let’s go.”  
Roman hopped to his own feet, “Where are we going?”  
Virgil reached into his jean pocket and dropped a pin into Roman’s hand, “You’re going to return this and that shiny, cheap belt buckle in your back pocket.”  
“What?” Roman turned as Virgil brushed by him, starting off.  
Virgil just waved for Roman to follow him.  
“Fine!” Roman moaned, throwing his head back dramatically as he dragged his feet and followed Virgil back to the discount emo store. Virgil made him walk in alone but stopped upon meeting the clerk’s eyes.  
“T-shirts are 20% off,” they monotoned again.  
“You said,” Roman walked forward, dropping the stolen merchandise on the counter. “I’m here to return these.”  
“Did you-” they leaned forward to examine the merchandise closer but was stopped by Roman holding up a hand.  
“I know, I know. We were merely fighting against the greater evil that is capitalism, but then we remember that capitalism doesn’t care about two such insignificant objects. Even if they will still punish you for such a crime. And we are fighting for the dust of the earth as we ourselves are. Stay strong, beautiful dreamer. You have nothing to lose, but you’re dreams,” Roman turned and walked out of the store.  
“What?” he heard the clerk say behind him.  
Roman walked back up to Virgil and the two started for the door, “I never want to come back.”  
“Don’t have to convince me,” Virgil agreed.

Roman was running, from what he couldn’t say. Some sort of bear-pig hybrid thing, but it was chasing him as he vaulted over edges of buildings and ducked through dark alleyways. The layout of this strange town didn’t make any sense. Why didn’t it make any sense? Why was he running around in circles? Why? Why? Why did he stop? Why was everything dissolving into white light? Where was he? Where? Who?


	6. Day 6 (Tuesday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter trigger warnings: More petty crimes, more electrocution, insane old lady, mention of past death

“I want to get into the horror movie industry when I get older,” Roman looked over in surprise at Talyn’s statement. They had been quiet since he had arrived, and the sudden statement jarred him.  
“Horror movies?” Roman asked once he had recovered enough to hold a conversation again.  
“Yup,” Talyn blew a bubble with the gum they were chewing, continuing when it popped. “I’ve been practising with special effects makeup and reviewing other horror movies for common themes and writing ideas.”  
“You know, somehow I think you are the kind of person who could make the good kind of horror movies,” Roman said with a smile.  
“Do you watch horror movies?” Talyn asked.  
“Sometimes, when my head is on straight,” Roman laughed.  
To his inner relief, Talyn laughed too. They fell silent for another minute before continuing, “I made a horror movie once.”  
“Really?” Roman asked.  
“Don’t sound so excited!” Talyn huffed. “It wasn’t any good. I had my little brother help me and I filmed and edited on my phone. It is the most embarrassing thing ever.”  
“Still,” Roman started.  
“No,” Talyn cut him off, a note of finality to their voice.  
“Fine,” Roman sighed, falling back as he did. “In all seriousness, I think you can do it.”  
“Thanks,” Talyn turned back to give him a small smile. “That means a lot.”

After saying goodbye to Talyn on the roofs, Roman made his way to the Snack Falcon to see what Patton was up too. To his surprise, Patton was calmly flipping through a catalogue, not quivering or shaking like he had been. As Roman walked over, Patton spoke, “I think I can break out of jail.”  
Roman stopped in surprise, “What was that, Pat?”  
Patton looked up at him, a contemplating expression on his face. “I think I can break out of jail,” he repeated. “It can’t be that hard, especially if it is county jail. I think I should do it at least once. You know, just for the experience.”  
“I think that the risk is bigger than any possible reward,” Roman tried, cautiously, also trying to gauge where Patton’s mood actually was at.  
Patton snorted, muttering quietly enough that Roman almost didn’t hear him, “You sound like Logan.”  
Roman frowned but continued as if he hadn’t heard, “But, knowing you, if you do end up in jail, you would inevitably break out. You aren’t the kind of person that can be held anywhere against your will for very long.”  
Patton laughed at that. Roman sighed in relief as the laugh sounded genuine. “I am definitely inevitable,” Patton giggled.  
“That you are buddy!” Roman grinned.  
“Are you doing anything tonight?” Patton asked.  
“Hanging with you, hopefully,” Roman tilted his head, relieved that Patton seemed to want to actually hang out.  
“Perfect!” Patton jumped over the counter and started towards the door. “Follow me!”  
“Yes, dear leader!” Roman laughed as he started after Patton.  
Patton grinned, “I am both a leader and a dear,” and pushed the door open. Patton led Roman over to what looked like a motorized bicycle and handed him a helmet. “Hop on,” Patton said as he fastened his own helmet on. “I found something that can help us get that robot up and working for Logan! I wanna try and have it operational before he gets home tonight.”  
“What is that thing?” Roman asked, but Patton just gave him a mysterious smirk and started up the bike causing Roman to quickly scramble on behind him. The two made their way out towards the Food Donkey again, but this time continued past it, which made Roman sigh in relief. Just past the Food Donkey, Patton veered off onto a dirt road and then onto a path in a field.  
They skidded to a stop when they reached a clearing. Roman pulled his helmet off, forgetting to deal with the mess his hair had become due to the helmet as he stared ahead in shock. There, in the middle of the clearing, was an old abandoned care with a tree growing straight out of the middle of it. “What is this thing?” Roman asked, barely remembering to put his helmet down before stepping forward in awe.  
Patton stepped up beside him, “Beats me. I found it out here about a month ago when exploring on my bike. But it couldn’t have been out here more than twenty years cause that is how old the car is.”  
At that point, Roman noticed that Patton had a metal bat resting on his shoulder. “What is that for?”  
“I need the battery and the hood is rusted shut,” Patton smirked again. “So the car must be destroyed. Do you wanna do the honours or shall I?”  
Roman reached out for the bat, “But do you know for sure that the battery is even in there?”  
“Nope!” Patton grinned as he took a step back. “All yours, buddy!”  
Roman grinned, brought the bat up, and stepped forward to start swinging at the car. The car was quickly well dented and the hood finally popped with a good whack to the grill. “Are we sure that it is safe to remove the battery?” Roman asked, looking down into the engine, scanning for the battery.  
“I don’t see why not,” Patton popped up beside him.  
“Okay good,” Roman said and reached forward to yank the wires off the battery he had finally spotted that connected the battery to the rest of the car. As soon as he grabbed them, a surge of electricity ran into his body and he screamed as he yanked them off the battery and fell to the ground, blacking out entirely.  
Roman came to and the whole world around him was slightly hazy. The little shark character that he kept as the background of his laptop was standing in front of him. “Sharkle?” he moaned as he sat up, rubbing at the back of his head.  
“Yes, Roman,” Sharkle responded in a surprisingly deep, echoing voice. “It is I.”  
“Sharkle, what happened?” Roman moaned, his head throbbing.  
“You did as you always do. What you have been told repeatedly by your parents, your grandfather, your teachers, and your therapist not to do. You jumped in without thinking,” Sharkle answered.  
“Oh,” Roman’s hand that had been rubbing at his head dropped into his lap as he slowly started recalling what had happened. “Guess that wasn’t the smartest move.”  
“No, now Roman. You need to get up,” Sharkle’s voice started morphing, becoming higher pitched and more panicked.  
“What?” Roman looked up at Sharkle, squinting as the world around him began to blur around him and more colours started to leak into his vision.  
“Get up! Please Roman! Get up!” Sharkle’s body slowly started morphing and as Roman blinked a few times to try and clear his vision, he realized who Sharkle really was.  
“Come on buddy!” Patton was crouched in front of him, his hands on both sides of Roman’s face. “We gotta get up!”  
Roman pushed Patton’s hands off of him and slowly got to his feet. “I’m fine, Pat,” he said in a very not fine voice, his voice cracking just a tad.  
Patton huffed, “You didn’t seem fine just a moment ago when you were babbling at nothing.” He turned and stormed back to the car.  
Roman rubbed at his eyes, trying to rub the last of the haziness from his vision. He barely noticed that Patton had yanked the battery from the car and heaved it past him to put it in the basket of the bike. “We will have to leave the bat behind, but that is okay because you practically destroyed it anyway,” Patton muttered as he plopped his helmet back onto his own head.  
“Yeah, okay,” Roman slurred, still slightly thrown from the whole incident. He stared down at the baseball bat lying on the ground, watching it slowly break apart.  
He only stopped when Patton came over to shove Roman’s helmet into his hands with a loud, “Come on!”  
Back at Patton and Logan’s apartment, Patton and Roman made quick work of assembling the pieces of the animatronic that were still sitting in its box where the two had left it the day before. They had no instructions and the end result looked nothing like Roman remembered from his childhood memories. But it was worth it to hear Patton giggle and chat about nothing like Roman could remember him doing when they would work on school work back in high school both at school and in Roman’s bedroom.  
“Okay, so all that is left is hooking up the battery so that it will move and talk,” Patton heaved the battery over to the back of the torso of the creature, where the panel was open. “Do you want to do the honours?”  
“Not really,” Roman admitted. “Are you sure we should even hook this up? I mean, who knows how long the battery was out there.”  
Patton huffed, “Are you going to be boring now cause you died for like five seconds?”  
“Dude,” Roman raised an eyebrow, Patton’s sudden mood changes all evening, throwing him for a loop.  
“I’ll just do it,” Patton started to reach in to grab the cables at the back of the machine, but Roman quickly snatched them first.  
“No, I’d rather it be me than you.” And before Patton could protest, Roman hooked the cables to the battery and immediately, it all went wrong. A surge of electricity travelled through the cables, causing the machine to go wild, head spinning and arms waving, sparks coming from the control panel. But before Roman could process any of this, his hand slipped, and he touched the metal that was connecting the battery to the machine and got hit with another jolt of electricity. He fell over backwards, seizing on the floor from the second electrocution he had experience in as many hours. He could hear screaming in the background that he could only assume was Patton panicking as everything went nuts.  
Then Roman, through his still hazy view of the world that was causing everything to be blurred and muffled, could see the door to the apartment open and a pair of worn tennis shoes with frayed jeans enter his line of vision. “What the hell?”  
Roman leaned his head back as the jolting stopped to see Logan’s face appeared above him, his expression a mix of shock, worry, and maybe a bit of frustration. Roman shook his head and moaned, “I’m just going to lay here for a while if that’s okay.”  
“Okay, Ro,” Logan stepped out of his line of sight and the screaming turned to squealing soon after, which Roman figured to mean that Logan had found Patton.  
“What do you think of my present for you, Lo?” Roman heard Patton say as the two reentered the room soon afterwards. Roman pushed himself up in order to view Logan’s reaction to the gift the two of them had worked on.  
“It is something,” Logan said, biting his lip, but otherwise his face betrayed no emotions.  
Patton stared up at him for a moment before asking, “How was your family’s?”  
“It was something,” this time Logan’s eye flicked over to Roman, his face remaining as blank as before.  
Patton’s eyes followed Logan’s and Roman quickly realized what the two were silently asking. He pushed himself to his feet and said, still slightly shaky, “I got to head out guys. Thank you for having me.”  
“Are you sure? We can help you get home,” Patton said.  
Roman waved him off, recognizing the fact that Patton was just being nice right now, “Nope, I got this. See you guys later.” And he grabbed his jacket and started home, wondering and worrying about his friends.  
Roman shivered in the cold air, watching the sun dip below the horizon as the world settled into twilight. The hairs on his arm stood up as he could still feel the tingle of electricity coursing through his body. Electrocution was certainly something he never wanted to experience again. Roman had almost made it out of downtown when he glanced in the shop window to his left. There, still working hard, was Virgil behind the counter of the Ol’ Pickaxe. Roman stopped, made a quick decision, and backtracked to enter the shop.  
Virgil looked up in slight surprise at seeing Roman enter before going back to sorting nails behind the register, “What are you doing here?”  
“Visiting you,” Roman said, leaning forward on the counter. “What are you doing?”  
“Some snot-nosed kid decided it would be fun to knock several containers of nails onto the ground this morning. I had to clean it up and sort them in between everything else I had to do today because my other employees aren’t worth anything,” Virgil’s voice was very tired, losing that monotone he seemed to adopt with every word.  
“You’ve been working on that since this morning?” Roman asked in awe.  
“Yup,” Virgil reached into the bucket that he had been pulling nails out of but furrowed his eyebrows as he looked in to see that it was empty.  
“Oh! You’re finally done! Wanna hang out?” Roman asked in excitement.  
Virgil looked up at him with that annoyingly blank expression, “I got work.”  
“Not for long! Your store closes in five minutes,” Roman pointed towards the door where the hours were posted.  
“Yes, but I have to close down the store and then I start the second part of my evening, house calls,” Virgil picked up the containers of nails, shoving one in Roman’s arms and started back into the aisles.  
“Ugh!” Roman groaned before following him. “What is even the point?”  
“Paychecks. Food. Rent,” Virgil said, placing the containers back in their spots. He turned and grabbed the container out of Roman’s arms, “Wanna come with?”  
Roman faltered slightly, glad Virgil had grabbed the container because he was pretty sure he would have dropped it, “You want me to come with you?”  
“You offered to be free labour,” Virgil pointed out, walking back to the front of the store. He pulled a set of keys out of his pocket, which Roman couldn’t understand how because it looked like he was wearing skinny jeans, and locked the front door. He turned back to Roman, “Help me shut down and we can go.”  
Shutting down turned out to be Roman sweeping the floor while Virgil counted the money in the register and then wiped down the counter while Roman was still riding the push broom through the aisles. Virgil finally just took it away from him and they set off in the car, heading out of town to the countryside. They finally turned down a long, dirt driveway, stopping about thirty feet away from a trailer house. Virgil snuffed out his cigarette and they both got out of the car. “So what am I doing?” Roman asked, cracking his knuckles as he bounded up beside Virgil.  
“You’re back up,” Virgil said. “I’ve had issues with this lady before.”  
“Oooh, I have never been backup before,” Roman started skipping, way too excited for what they were actually doing.  
Virgil just rolled his eyes, “Yeah, well, don’t get shot.”  
Roman stopped suddenly at that, “Buck season is not for a few days, right?”  
“People get impatient,” Virgil continued walking towards the house.  
“For murder?” Roman quickly ran forward to catch up with Virgil, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.  
“Not murder if it’s animals,” Virgil sounded thoroughly unimpressed, stepping up onto the porch.  
“That’s dark, dude,” Roman said, following him up.  
Virgil just rolled his eyes and knocked on the door. It was soon opened by an ancient looking lady. “Hello Mrs. Pacelli,” he greeted, a pained smile on his face.  
“You’re finally here. My furnace has been broken for a week now and I am not pleased Mr. Alighieri. You promised quick and reliable service!” the woman snapped in way of a greeting.  
“Ma’am, I did send a guy to fix your furnace. He claims that he was locked in your basement. I couldn’t get ahold of him all evening,” Virgil’s voice remained calm, which was slightly surprising to Roman.  
Mrs. Pacelli huffed, “A likely story! I smelled alcohol on him, I’m telling you!”  
Virgil just gave her a small smile, “Okay Mrs. Pacelli. I’m here now.”  
Mrs. Pacelli huffed again, “Stupid young people like you and that young man, always coming along and ruining my life. Taking my husband away from me. ‘Had complaints about the smell.’ He didn’t smell I made sure of it.” Suddenly, the lady noticed Roman was standing there too. “Who is this?” she asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.  
“This is Roman. He is here to help me,” Virgil explained. Roman looked over at him, surprised that he was somehow remaining so calm.  
“Okay, fine. Stupid little rascals.” By some miracle, the lady finally stepped aside and let them in, leading them to the basement.  
“Now, Mrs. Pacelli, we’ll fix up your furnace. Please don’t lock us in,” Virgil said, before stepping down, Roman quickly scrambling after him.  
“I won’t!” the woman snapped back before slamming the door shut behind both of them.  
“Wow, she is quite the character,” Roman finally muttered as the two reached the bottom.  
“That she is. Her husband that she was talking about. They took him away cause he was dead. She was trying to preserve him in her living room,” Virgil said as he walked over to an ancient looking machine in the middle of the room.  
Roman just stopped in shock, “Holy stars.”  
Virgil turned back to him, the dim lighting of the basement giving him a much more eerie look. “Look, I’m going to fix the furnace. You stay there.”  
“Roger,” Roman gave him a mock salute and Virgil disappeared behind the furnace before he revealed that his other hand had crossed fingers. “Nope, I’m going to explore.” Roman turned and headed in the opposite direction of the furnace, weaving between the scattered boxes, ignoring a wooden bat as he set off to see what other secrets that this woman had hidden away.  
“Let’s see, we have a rusted fan. Honestly, she could have sold this,” Roman commented. “Hmmm, a box full of tie cables. Why would anyone need this many tie cables? Ever? But no hidden photo albums, no dead bodies, no good stuff! Although, I suppose she did already get in trouble for having a dead body. Kind of deters you to keep another.”  
Roman’s eyes locked onto a shelf full of cans with murky liquid. “What is this? A failed canning attempt? I thought all old ladies could can,” Roman muttered as he stepped over two rusted tricycles to get closer. They stank slightly, almost like acid, as he leaned closer to try and see what they were. It was hard to tell, but there were objects in those jars that didn’t look like salsa or jam. His eyes suddenly widened as he realized what they were, something he had actually seen in a college anatomy class, and stumbled backwards, falling over the tricycles. Roman let out a slight screech as he hit the floor and took off running towards the light of the furnace.  
Virgil poked his head around the back as Roman scrambled back out of the dark, his eyes wide, but they quickly narrowed, “You’re almost as pale as me. What happened? I thought I told you to stay up here.”  
Roman shook his head, “That pale foundation defies physics, Virgil. I’ll never be as pale as you.” He nervously looked back towards the dark he had come from while Virgil scoffed.  
“Seriously, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Virgil said.  
“How much longer until you are done?” Roman turned back towards Virgil, hiding his still shaking hands behind him as he struggled to keep his breathing steady.  
Virgil sighed, “Almost there.” He disappeared once again, there was a loud clang, and he finally stepped out as the furnace shuddered to life.  
Roman clapped his hands over his ears at the loud bangs and clangs now coming from the furnace, “Man! That thing is loud!”  
“Yup!” Virgil yelled back. “Let’s go.” Virgil started up the stairs with Roman close behind him, but suddenly cursed when he reached the top. “She locked us in!”  
Roman dropped his hands from his ears, “What are we going to do?” Virgil started banging on the door, calling out for Mrs. Pacelli, but Roman took a step back down, saying to himself, “She’ll never hear him over the sound of the furnace.” Roman turned towards the furnace and then his eyes drifted over to the wooden bat just visible under the stairs. He went back down, grabbed the bat, and swung.  
Next thing Roman knew, the furnace was back out of commission, the bat in splinters and falling from Roman’s hand. “Holy shit,” Roman could hear Virgil behind him and then he gasped as the basement door opened.  
“What is going on down here?” Mrs. Pacelli screeched.  
“You locked us in,” Roman felt his arm being grabbed and he blindly followed who he was sure had to be Virgil. “How about I don’t charge you for my time and don’t call the police to inform them about what is down there and you don’t come asking for my services ever again?”  
Without waiting for a response, or none that Roman could process, the two were back outside on the front porch. Roman looked up at Virgil whose whole professional demeanour just melted away and he all but fell down onto the porch steps, looking utterly exhausted. “Thank you,” Roman muttered, just loud enough for Virgil to hear.  
Roman thought he saw a ghost of a smile on Virgil’s face, but it was quickly gone as Virgil pulled his legs close to his chest and muttered, “I’m just so tired, Roman. Of everything.”  
Roman looked out into the now night sky, at the flickering lightning bugs dancing around the front yard of the trailer house. He looked back down at his friend and a smile came to his face. “You know what you need? You need magical stuff to give you a new perspective!” he declared.  
Virgil snorted, “Good luck with that.”  
Roman just grinned and ran out into the yard, running through as many of the lightning bugs as he could find. As he expected, they started gravitating towards him, until, when he ran back to Virgil, there were about thirty just buzzing all around him.  
Virgil stared at him, the light of the lightning bugs flickering lights reflected in his wide eyes. “How did you do that?” his voice betraying a sense of awe.  
Roman shrugged, “I don’t know. Ever since I was little, I could just attract them like this.”  
Virgil hid his growing smile behind his knees and mumbled, “You are an interesting person, Roman Sanders.”  
“I’m not as interesting as that lady,” Roman pointed to the house behind Virgil. “She mummified a dude.”  
Virgil snorted again and changed the subject, “That you for getting us out of that basement. You should channel that aggression into something useful.”  
“Eh, my doctor said to repress it,” Roman said, looking over towards Virgil’s car.  
Virgil stared at him with that annoyingly blank look again, before finally saying, “Let’s head home.”

Roman stood on top of a building, it’s roof tilted at an almost twenty-degree angle. He could see something running between the crooked buildings and weaving streets and stepped forward in curiosity. But when he stepped forward, he was suddenly met with just air and found himself very slowly falling, as if sinking in molasses rather than air.  
Somehow, Roman managed to land on his feet on another building. He looked around to see that this building was attached off the side of the previous building and he carefully walked forward to see another building just below him by about ten feet. He looked up to see the light of the mysterious creature weaving around and then jumped down to the next building.  
No fear went through him when he missed and he continued falling until he landed in a heap on the sidewalk. Roman slowly pushed himself back to his feet and looked up to see the creature round a corner and set its beady red eyes on him. It was some sort of giant squirrel and it started running towards him, moving slightly faster than the rest of the world. Roman turned to try and run, but he could hear the squirrel get closer as it could run faster. But just when he could feel it’s hot breath on the back of his neck, Roman looked down to see himself dissolving into white dust and then, nothing.


	7. Day 7 (Tuesday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter trigger warnings: Arguments, bipolar crash, mention of past violence, overly dark tone, knife fight

The next day, Roman was slightly surprised to see his mom still sitting at the dining room table, her lunch still untouched before her, scribbling in a notebook. A quick glance at the clock confirmed that it was already 3 pm and he quietly approached the table with a tentative, “Mom?”  
His mom jerked up, slamming the notebook closed. “Roman!” she exclaimed. “You about gave me a heart attack!”  
Roman tilted his head in confusion, “Mom, what’s wrong? You haven’t eaten yet and you don’t look very good.”  
“I’m fine,” his mom quickly grabbed her plate, dumping the contents down the garbage disposal. Neither spoke as the machine whirred, but Roman yawned as she flicked it off. “Long night?” she asked.  
“Yeah, I went to work with Virgil,” Roman explained, grabbing at the jar of peanut butter, grateful to see it was a new, barely-open jar.  
“Oh, are you working there now?” his mom asked, a hint of interest peeking in her voice.  
“No, I was just tagging along. But I was super helpful. Which was a new and exciting feeling,” Roman smiled, before sticking a spoonful of peanut butter in his mouth.  
“Mmmmhmmmm,” his mom hummed with barely concealed disinterest. She sat back down with a sigh, opening her notebook again.  
“Are you okay?” Roman asked.  
“Yeah, just tired. I’ve been doing a lot of boring adult stuff,” she said.  
“What kind of adult stuff? I’m adult stuff!” Roman exclaimed before sticking another spoonful in his mouth.  
His mom just stared at him with tired eyes, but Roman stared back, the spoon hanging out of her mouth. She sighed again and explained, “Just like the budget, bills, and numbers. A lot of adulthood is number stress.  
Roman took the spoon out of his mouth, “That sounds bad. I’m bad at numbers.”  
“Oh, I remember,” his mom snarked back before adding, “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”  
“Um, yeah,” Roman dropped the spoon into the sink and returned the peanut butter, unsure of how to properly react to this strange tone his mom had taken on.  
He started to turn and leave, grabbing his jacket from where he left it draped over the stair rails last night, when his mom said, “I would love to see you at the church, Roman.”  
“Well, maybe I’ll come by and visit,” Roman suggested.  
“That’s not- Fine,” his mom sounded almost defeated. “Bye Roman.”  
Roman’s forehead creased in worry, but he simply said bye as well before heading out.  
Just down the street, Roman sat down next to Elliott, his eyes and smile wide, armed with a simple question, “What do you do?”  
Elliott blinked in shock at the sudden intruder on their front steps, snapping the notebook in their hand shut almost automatically. “Well, what do you do all day?” they challenged.  
“I asked you first,” a mischievous twinkle was in Roman’s eyes. “I’ve seen you sitting up here writing almost every day. What do you do? What do you write about? I want to know!”  
Elliott snorted, “Really? That’s what you want to know. Not to unlock my tragic backstory or whatever.”  
“Same thing, right?” Roman tapped the notebook. “You look like you are putting your soul into whatever you’re writing. I’m curious.”  
Elliott raised an eyebrow at him, before finally deciding to answer, “Poetry. My therapist thought it would be good for me. To help with my depression.”  
“Dr Griggs?” Roman asked, sitting back on his heels.  
“Yeah, you know him?” Elliott’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion.  
“Notebooks seem to be his automatic homework assignment.” Roman looked up and explained, “Anger issues. He is the only therapist in a thirty-mile radius of this place.”  
Elliott laughed. “That is true,” they gave Roman a crooked smile. The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Elliott said, “I saw a fire a few days ago. Out by the water tower. Did you have anything to do with that?”  
“A few days ago?” This time Roman’s eyebrows were the ones that furrowed. “No, I was at a party that had a bonfire, but we were out near the tracks, not the water tower.”  
“Hmmmm,” Elliott looked up, Roman quickly following his gaze. “He’s going to fall and break his back.”  
“Dr Picani?” When Elliott nodded, Roman continued, “I doubt it. He seems to know what he’s doing.”  
“Sure,” Elliott snorted and then got to their feet. “I gotta go.”  
“Okay,” Roman was still distracted and barely noticed when Elliott disappeared into their house. He finally decided to head up to the roof of Dr Picani’s house, climbing the ladder off the side. “Hey Dr Picani!” he called out to his former teacher when he hauled himself up, slightly startling the man who had been peering through the telescope.  
“Roman! You almost were late! You here to look at some more stars?” Dr Picani asked.  
“Of course! I wouldn’t miss it!” Roman scrambled across the roof. “What are we looking at today?” 

After a very insightful session with Dr Picani, he was told not to hop the roofs with a threat this time, so he climbed down and set off in search of another ladder. He was distracted a block down by a large set of steps that he had been purposely ignoring. Roman glanced up at the sky, it wouldn’t be too late, right? And if she wasn’t there, then at least he tried. He started up the stairs before he could change his mind, finally heading off to the church.  
He was slightly surprised when he found the door still unlocked and quickly made his way over to the offices where, sure enough, his mom was sitting, reading. “Hey!” he called out and his mom looked up in surprise.  
“Honey, what are you doing here?” she asked in surprise.  
“Can’t I just visit you?” Roman asked.  
She raised an eyebrow, before looking back down at her book. “Honey, I appreciate the visit, but you know this is not what I meant. And I’m working right now. We are getting ready to switch programs in order to track the budget and I need to learn it as quickly as possible.”  
Roman leaned over the counter to see that she was reading a manual of sorts. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just wanted to check in on you. You got back to work so late today.”  
His mom stiffened slightly before saying, “Thank you, dear. Now I need to work.”  
He stepped down with a sigh, “Okay, goodbye Mom.”  
Behind him, he heard a slightly muttered goodbye and he set off for another place once again.

Roman found Talyn at their favourite spot on the roofs, but before he could sit down, they stood up with a simple, “I wanna show you my favourite spot.” So, he followed them out to the edge of town and down the railroad tracks.  
“Where are we going?” he asked at one point, watching Talyn walk heel-toe down one of the rails as he hopped from tie to tie.  
“My second favourite place in this whole forsaken town. We’re going to squish some metal things,” Talyn explained.  
“Metal things?” Roman questioned. Talyn spun around on one heel and started walking back down the rail while reaching into their coat to pull out two metal soldiers. “We’re squishing those?”  
“Yup!” Talyn spun back around before stopping and saying, “This is it.” They immediately laid the soldiers down on the rail and laid down in between the track they were walking and the one next to it that had come up alongside it a hundred yards back. Their feet dangled over one of the rails.  
Roman laid down next to them and asked, “Why is this the place?”  
“Easy,” Talyn said as the ground around them began to shake. They pulled their legs up and Roman copied them, right before a train breached the hill they were almost at the top of and zoomed over them. When it passed, Talyn stretched out their legs again and continued, “We can still feel the rattle of the bridge here. This is the safest place.”  
“But aren’t you worried that you will miss-judge one day and your legs will be squished and no one will know where you are at?” Roman asked.  
Talyn looked over at him, a tuft of soft, pink hair falling over their eyes, “Isn’t that part of the fun?” Roman looked away, up at the pink and orange sky above them. After a silent moment, Talyn said, “I get weird thoughts sometimes. And being out here helps me understand them. Sometimes, my thoughts are so bad that I can’t go back home and I just sleep out here between the tracks.”  
Roman gave a sad smile, “I understand that.”  
After another quiet moment, Talyn asked, “I’m going to disappear one day, aren’t I? Just like my dad and Remy Caste?”  
Roman looked over at them in shock, slightly surprised to see that they weren’t even tearing up, “No, Talyn. You’re not. I’ll be here to make sure of it.”  
Talyn laughed, “Alright, Killer.” The ground started to rattle again and they pulled their legs up as another train passed by, this time on the track near their head. “You won’t always be there to protect me though.”  
“Sure I will,” Roman said with as much fake confidence as he could muster. “I’m magic like that.”  
Talyn laughed, “Whatever, Killer. Let’s check our metal things.”  
The metal things were completely squashed, their former features barely distinguishable in their much more 2-D state. Talyn continued to explain how they discovered the train track and what they were using the metal things for as the two headed back to town.  
They had made it off the rail tracks and were walking through the abandoned Food Donkey parking lot when Roman spotted someone familiar riding around on a cart. “Joan!” he shouted, running forward with Talyn following close behind.  
Joan turned to him, the orange beanie on their head standing out stark against the grey of the world around him. “Hey Roman,” he said as the two reached them.  
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Roman asked.  
Joan shrugged, “I just appreciate abandoned things.”  
“You do?” Roman tilted his head in confusion.  
“Who else will?” Joan leaned around Roman as they spotted the figure behind him.  
“Oh, Joan, this is my friend, Talyn. They love horror movies. Talyn, this is Joan. They watch us practice,” Roman introduced them.  
“Nice to meet you, Talyn,” Joan held out a hand. They quickly dropped it though as Talyn just gave them a quick nod and looked away, hands digging deep into their pockets.  
“Um, I guess I’ll see you later, Roman. Talyn,” Joan hopped up onto his cart as they started sailing away.  
“Bye!” Roman waved them off and started off again with Talyn. Talyn continued to look down along the way, scuffing at the ground with their boot. Roman looked over at them and decided to try a new subject, “Are you going to the Halloween Festival tomorrow?”  
Talyn gave a slight chuckle, “Nope, I’m going to stay in all night and watch and rate horror movies.” And the two started up again.

Roman and Talyn parted ways in front of the Snack Falcon, which Roman went into to visit Patton. Patton was standing with his head down face-first on the counter, utterly silent. As Roman stopped in front of his friend, Patton turned his head to look up at him, squinting as his glasses lay on the counter next to him. He then turned his head so he once again faced first into the counter and mumbled, “This job is one long near-death experience.”  
“Well,” Roman started, his hands starting to shake again as he remembered what Patton had told him a couple of days ago. “You keep this job for Logan. For your plans. Right?”  
Patton turned his head back so he could see Roman again, this time with a slight smile on his face. “Yeah, I do,” he murmured almost dreamily and pushed himself up off the counter. “But I’m done for today. Want to go hang out?”  
“Logan is back, right? Don’t you usually spend your evenings with him?” Roman asked.  
Patton shrugged, “Logan is working late tonight in order to make up for not being there yesterday. I have time before he gets off. Let’s go.” Roman widened his eyes in surprise as Patton opted to run around the counter rather than hop it and then dragged him outside to his bike.  
The two came to a stop out in the woods. Patton removed his helmet and grabbed Roman’s hand, yelling, “Come on!” Roman barely had a chance to drop his own helmet before he was being dragged into the woods by Patton. They stopped in the next clearing over and Patton hopped up on a log and pulled two pocket knives from his pocket. He tossed one over to Roman, yelling, “On guard!”  
Roman fumbled as he caught the knife. “Patton, I thought we couldn’t do this anymore,” Roman tried as he realized what Patton was wanting to do.  
“Come on, Romano Cheesey,” Patton moaned. “We haven’t had a good knife fight in years.”  
“But Logan-”  
“Oh, Logan schlofen. Let’s fight,” Patton flicked his knife and, with a loud warcry, jumped off the log towards Roman.  
Roman barely had the chance to flick his own knife open before he started defending himself. It wasn’t long before Patton’s knife caught across one of his knuckles and Roman yelped in pain, pulling back from Patton.  
“Come on, that was barely a nick!” Patton complained and Roman growled before advancing forward once again.  
This time, it was Roman who nicked Patton and he yelped in pain, cradling his hand. “Are you okay?” Roman asked.  
“Fine,” Patton gritted out and he lunged forward again only taking a few seconds before he caught Roman’s palm. At Roman’s yelp, he just shouted, “Come on Romano! Let’s go go go!”  
“Patton-” Roman tried but was cut off by Patton’s knife, barely blocking the hit. They went on for a while before Roman caught Patton again. At his hiss of pain, Roman tried again, “Patton, we can stop.”  
“No!” Patton lunged forward again, but Roman quickly caught him in the wrist, a little deeper than before. “Damn,” he muttered, dropping his knife into the leaves. “I’m going to have to explain this to my parents.”  
Roman quickly wiped the knife in his hand off on his shirt, grateful he wore a red one today, and stuffed it in his pocket then leaned down to pick up the other knife. “Patton-” he started, but Patton just snatched the knife and took off down one of the forest trails, stuffing the knife into his own pocket without even wiping it off. Roman chased after him, barely keeping him in his sights, calling out for his friend.  
He finally found him holding a crossbow that Roman had no clue where it came from, aiming it at a wooden statue of a dear about thirty feet away. Patton pulled the trigger, the bolt hitting the deer square between the eyes. “Yes!” he cheered before turning to Roman, holding out the crossbow. “You wanna try?”  
Roman hesitantly took it and aimed, missing the deer entirely. “Darnit,” he muttered to himself.  
“Try again!” Patton encouraged. It took another two hits, but Roman finally hit it. On the leg. He tried again and this time got the deer on the torso, but this didn’t seem to please Patton. He snatched the crossbow back, saying, “You’re shaking it too much. Watch this.” Patton took aim, but nothing happened when he pulled the trigger. “Out of bolts, damn.” Patton dropped the crossbow, which Roman just knew couldn’t be good for it, and took off running again.  
Roman chased after him, catching up at the edge of a lake. Roman was slightly panting by this time and when he looked up at his friend, he furrowed his brows as Patton seemed to be a million miles away from the lake, staring off into the distance. “Are you okay?” Roman ventured.  
Patton snorted. “I don’t think I’m quite right in the brain anymore, Roman,” he admitted. “I have up up days and I have down down days and sometimes I don’t know which is which until it is over.”  
Roman frowned, “Is this a down day?”  
Patton sighed, “Yeah, I think it is.” The two stared out across the lake. Roman looked down at his friend, the worn grey cardigan still wrapped around him, a blue with white polka-dot button-up that Roman vaguely remembered Logan wearing in high school poking out from it. Patton scuffed his worn sneakers against the forest floor, the duct tape barely holding on anymore. “I’m a good person, right?” Patton suddenly asked.  
Roman jerked his head over to look at him in shock, “Good?”  
“I dunno…” Patton muttered, a light blush appearing behind his freckles.  
Roman turned towards his friend, “What’s up?”  
Patton looked down at his hand, the dried blood around the cuts standing out against his unusually pale skin, “I’ve been trying really hard lately cause Lo needs me.”  
Roman raised an eyebrow, trying to follow Patton’s line of thought, “Is Logan in trouble?”  
“No he…” Patton managed a small smile. “He just hasn’t had the best life. His family are jerks. And I don’t want to lose him. I don’t want to screw this up.”  
“What’s wrong?” Roman asked.  
Patton turned his head slightly away, “We’ve been arguing lately.”  
“About?”  
“Stuff. How I’m inconsiderate running off and doing things that could possibly jeopardize our future together. Thinking about only myself,” Patton gave a loud sniff and turned his head back, hot tears in his eyes and a dead smile on his face. “That I’m not good.”  
Roman swallowed down the lump growing in his throat, wrapping one arm around Patton, “You’re good.”  
Patton’s laugh was shaky as he wiped at his eyes with his sleeve, “I’m parking lot trash. I got no future without Logan.”  
Patton started to hyperventilate and Roman hushed him, lowering them both to the ground while rubbing Patton’s back. “Calm down, Patton,” Roman whispered. “You’re good. Logan is good.”  
Patton gave him a slightly more genuine smile and said through the hiccups that were starting up, “Yeah, Logan is good.”

Roman made sure Patton got home safe, driving them himself, but let him go up by himself upon seeing that the living room light was already on. Roman continued on to his next destination, enjoying the tinkling of the bell as he entered the Ol’ Pickaxe.  
Virgil was leaning against the counter, a cigarette rolling between his fingers. “My job is killing me,” he complains without even looking up at Roman.  
“Why don’t you quit then?” he asks, but at Virgil’s glare, Roman decides to try another question. “Okay, do you want me to burn this place down?”  
“What? No! I’ll get blamed for that!” Virgil said in utter shock, his eyes wide, the cigarette dropping from his fingers.  
“Not if you have an alibi,” Roman pointed out.  
“Then you will get blamed,” Virgil argued.  
“For what? I have no motive,” Roman said.  
Virgil sighed and dropped his head down onto the counter, “Please don’t burn down my store.”  
“Okay okay,” Roman lifted up his hands in surrender. “Do you want to hang out tonight?”  
Virgil lifted his head with a cocked eyebrow, “Do you seriously have to hang out with me every night?”  
“I’m trying to fix our friendship,” Roman explained.  
“Fix our friendship?” Virgil’s face had reset to that annoyingly blank look.  
“Yeah. And this is the only thing I can think of.”  
Virgil stared at him for a long moment before finally saying, “I’m not doing calls tonight, just going to the store to buy food for dinner. You are welcome to come with.”  
“Yes!” Roman pumped his fist in celebration before helping Virgil shut down the shop and they started for the Ham Panther. 

Roman was slightly surprised that he didn’t see his dad, but they shopped quickly and made it back to Virgil’s apartment. “That was fun!” Roman exclaimed, carrying a large brown bag as Virgil fumbled with his keys.  
“Yup, groceries. Make you appreciate life,” Virgil snarked.  
“Your sarcasm is invalid,” Roman said, a tone of finality in his voice as the door swung open.  
Virgil gestured for Roman to enter first, but Roman stopped a few feet in when a pair of almost black eyes turned from an old box television to him. He could feel his mouth drop open and was grateful that the bag was hiding it from view as he took in the man’s greasy appearance. Roman could almost see the flies buzzing around the guy and it was taking all of his willpower not to crinkle his nose in disgust. He felt Virgil brush by him and heard the sound of keys hitting a counter with a simple, “Hi, Dad.”  
The man’s eyes slowly gravitated away from Roman and to Virgil and he growled out, “Who is this?”  
“Roman,” Virgil took the bag away from Roman, a flash of warning in his eyes, and Roman quickly snapped his mouth closed and composed himself with a smile. “He is an old friend from school.”  
Roman tore himself away from the man’s, Virgil’s dad, beady eyes and attempted to cheerfully ask, “Do you want help making dinner?”  
Virgil glanced up at him with that annoyingly raised eyebrow, but blessedly responded, “Sure, Ro.”  
One easy hamburger mac meal later and Roman had volunteered himself to wash the dishes, but he could hear Virgil and his dad still talking in the living room.  
“Have you signed off on the order forms yet?” Virgil was asking.  
“No, are you sure we need that much lightbulbs? It seems like an awful lot. I never had to order that many,” his dad responded, a tone to his voice that worried Roman.  
“You made me take them off last time. And the time before that. And the time before that. We are nearly completely out of stock now,” Virgil explained, his voice unusually gentle.  
“Hmmmpf,” his dad grunted. “I’ll look over them again.”  
“I’d like to get the orders in by the weekend-”  
“I’ll look over them again!” his dad snapped. Roman paused in his rinsing as he listened to the painful silence.  
Finally, Virgil spoke again, “Okay. Have you signed off on the payroll?”  
“No, I’ll do that later too,” his dad growled.  
“The employees need to be paid! With all these late paychecks, I’m having a hard time keeping people around,” Virgil tried to protest.  
“Well, maybe it is just your poor managing skills! Why are bothering me so much tonight?” his dad yelled.  
“Well, maybe if you actually give me more power, I wouldn’t have to bother you all the time! You still have me as assistant manager even though I’m basically running the place, doing all your work-” Virgil’s voice was starting to rise as well.  
“It is still my store! I’m still the owner!” Roman shut off the water as Virgil’s dad flat-out shouted at him loud enough to make the small apartment shake. Roman slipped over to the living room door, seeing that Virgil’s dad had finally hauled himself out of that chair and was practically towering over Virgil who was staring defiantly back up at him.  
After a long moment, Virgil lowered his head and took a step back, “Fine. Whatever you say.”  
“Good,” his dad lowered himself back down into the chair and Virgil’s eyes flicked up just enough to catch Roman’s peeking out behind the door frame.  
“I’ll see you later,” Virgil muttered and stepped out of the living room area, indicating with his head for Roman to follow him down a hallway. Roman carefully slipped behind the chair as Virgil’s dad turned the volume of the TV back up and the two slipped into one of three doors.  
“Finally,” Virgil collapsed down onto an air mattress as Roman looked around the room in shock.  
“Virgil?” he ventured. “How long have you and your dad lived here?”  
“Hmmm?” Virgil lifted his head as he surveyed the multiple still packed boxes around the room. He rolled onto his back before answering, “About ten months, I think.”  
“You’ve been working really hard,” Roman started walking around the room, touching the few trinkets that were out, probably bought after the move, with Virgil’s blank eyes watching him. Roman stopped at an old record player. His hand travelled down to touch the record beside it. They were still in the box, but the box was open, which was an improvement. “I like the record player.”  
“It was my mom’s,” Roman turned around to see Virgil staring up at the slow moving fan above him.  
“Why do you take this?” Roman asked, walking over to sit on the mattress beside Virgil.  
“I don’t have a choice,” Virgil monotoned.  
“Yes, you do!” Roman slapped down on the mattress beside him causing Virgil to be jolted out of place. “You are twenty years old. You don’t have to stay here with someone who obviously doesn’t care about you and you could leave. Have that life you are berating me so much for not having myself!”  
“Do you even hear the words coming out of your mouth?” Virgil sat up in anger. “Of course I don’t have a choice! Where the hell do you expect me to go if I leave here? I don’t really have any money because it all goes into keeping us afloat! My dad can’t work! Who is going to take care of him while I’m gone? He can’t do it! I need to be here! That is why I don’t have a choice!”  
“Well, that is just stupid!” Roman was flustered, but still trying to argue.  
Virgil’s eyes darkened, “Get out.”  
Roman stumbled to his feet in shock, “What?”  
“Get out of my apartment! You and all your stupid ideology about repairing friendships! If you cared so much about our friendship, maybe you shouldn’t have ruined it in the first place!” Virgil shouted. He took a shaky breath, throwing one eye over his eyes, but Roman had already seen the building tears there.  
“Virgil, I’m-” Roman started. He took a cautious step forward.  
“GET OUT!” Virgil full-on screeched and Roman quickly made that way out of his room.  
He looked up upon reaching the living room, meeting Virgil’s dad’s beady eyes. “I remember you,” a slight chuckle to his voice. “You’re the kid that Virgil used to hang out with. Before you went coo-coo and killed that kid.”  
“I didn’t kill him,” Roman muttered as he stomped out the front door and started home.

The front door slammed shut behind Roman as he stormed in, slightly drippy from the sudden rain burst that started when he was a few houses down. “Roman?” a voice called from the living room as he was peeling off his jacket.  
He draped it over the bannister and walked in, calling, “Yes?”  
His dad muted the TV, “How was your day today?”  
Roman shrugged, “It was a day. Didn’t see you at the Ham Panther.”  
“I got off early. What were you doing at the Ham Panther?” his dad asked.  
“Buying dinner with Virgil.” Roman quickly changed the subject, “Do you know why Mom was so stressed this morning?”  
His dad quickly moved back towards the TV, lifting the remote as he said, “A lot of adulthood is being vaguely stressed for multiple reasons.”  
Roman’s eyes and shoulders dropped as he recognized that the conversation was over, “Okay Dad. Good night.” He started up the stairs, stopping on the third step to listen.  
After a minute, his dad finally said, “Good night, Roman.” Roman’s shoulders dropped slightly again as he slowly trudged up the stairs.  
He flopped down onto his bed, too tired to even take off his shoes, but the next thing he knew, he was standing on the side of a building. Roman looked up at the swirling stars above him, melting into the tops of the light poles, their yellow light leaking into the comforting greys of the rest of the world. This time, Roman held no bat or any other weapon and there was no other sign of any immediate danger that his foggy senses could pick up on.  
Roman stepped off the side of the building, barely noticing that he was walking on air up to the next building as he followed the swirl of the lights. He wandered like this for a long time, or maybe just a short time. Roman kept changing his mind as his sense of reality continued to wrap around him as the building began to bend and the air began to solidify. It wasn’t until he reached the top of one particularly curved building that he realized that there may be a problem with the world around him.  
Suddenly he heard a roar above him. The tendrils of fear began to sneak in and Roman looked up to see a giant crocodile descending from the sky, its mouth opened wide. Roman let out a silent scream as everything suddenly muted and ducked down. But right before the crocodile could snap it’s mouth shut, it dissolved into white light with the rest of the world and Roman quickly following it.


	8. Chapter 8 (Wednesday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter trigger warnings: arguments, fake history involving witches and curses, kidnapping

Roman stumbled downstairs, rubbing at his eyes, glancing outside at the already setting sun. “Honey,” Roman heard the quick tone of his mom from the kitchen and slowly turned that way, afraid of what she’d say. Sure enough, she was standing at the entrance to the kitchen, arms crossed, scowling at him. “Care to explain that?” she nodded towards the stairs.  
Roman turned to see his still damp jacket laying over the bannister, puddles of water on each side. “Sorry?” he tried. His mom huffed and stomped back into the kitchen. Roman chased after her, “Mom! I’m sorry! I’ll clean up the mess!”  
“I’m not mad,” his mom cut him off, grabbing her coffee mug and refilling it. Roman glanced up at the clock which read three pm already and back at her, worried.  
“What’s wrong?” he asked.  
“Nothing’s wrong,” his mom said as she added several spoonfuls of sugar to her coffee.  
“You’re lying,” Roman said with narrowed eyes.  
His mom turned around and took a sip of her coffee before saying, “So, honey, you’ve been home for a week. Ready to talk about school?”  
Roman dropped his crossed arms. “Not really,” he admitted, rubbing at the back of his neck.  
“And do you know when that will be? Because, honey, I’m all ears. I really am dying to find out why you up and abandoned all the plans we made as a family,” his mom said with narrowed eyes.  
Roman looked up at her with wide eyes, “Geez Mom! Where is all of this coming from?”  
“You know you're the f-” she started.  
“‘First Sanders to go to college.’ Yeah Mom, I know,” Roman rolled his eyes, scuffing at the floor with his shoe.  
“Well honey, we’ve been planning it since you were born,” his mom took another sip before turning to add another spoonful of sugar to her coffee. “Spent a good eighteen years and got into a whole lot of trouble just for you to decide ‘it wasn’t where you needed to be.’”  
Roman tilted his head in confusion, “Are you having one of your mood swings again?”  
His mom slammed the spoon down on the counter, causing Roman to jump, “Ugh, like I’m the moody one in this household.”  
“You are the moody one in this household!” Roman snarked back.  
“Well, I hope you enjoy this house while you can.”  
Roman jerked his head up in shock, “What do you mean?”  
“Maybe it just isn’t where we need to be,” his mom took another sip of her coffee.  
“Mom, this isn’t funny. Are we losing the house?” Roman took a step forward, still trying to process everything.  
“Don’t worry about it,” his mom said. “Don’t worry about anything. Why start now? Just go off and do whatever it is you do.”  
“You know what?” Roman could feel his face start to heat up in anger, but didn’t stop himself. “If I had more examples of, you know, getting out and making something of myself-”  
“No!” his mom cut him off, slamming her coffee mug down. “You don’t get to-”  
“Maybe!” Roman started shouting over her. “Maybe you want me to get out because you never got around to doing it yourself! Maybe I’m just the most recent failure in the line of failures that is our family! Did you ever think about that?”  
His mom just stopped and stared at him, before quietly saying, “I think it is time for me to go to work now.”  
Roman’s eyes widened, “Mom?” His mom stormed past him, snatching her purse and leaving without so much as a good-bye. Roman just remained standing in the empty living room as he whispered one more time, “Mom?”  
After a long few minutes, he walked back to the front, peeking out the blinds to see his mom was long gone. Stepping back, he whispered to himself, “I’m sorry.” Next thing he knew, he was sitting in front of the refrigerator shoving yet another spoonful of peanut butter in his mouth. Roman frowned down at the now nearly empty jar, dropping his spoon and the jar as he banged his head back against the fridge, hard. Slowly, he scrunched himself up, hiding his face behind his knees as he struggled to get his breathing back under control.  
The sunlight streaming through the window was inching up across his face when he finally peeked back out. He snatched the jar, dropping it in the trash can with the spoon still inside and was about to slip back upstairs when he noticed a flyer on the fridge. The annual Harvest Festival that happened every Halloween, which was today. Maybe that would take his mind off everything.  
Upstairs, Roman was digging through his closet, trying to find something that would work as a costume. But his old prince costume was definitely too small now, which meant he was really just keeping it for nostalgic reasons. But this also meant that he needed something different to dress up as and considering he put this off till the last minute, something quick and easy. He spied a cloak hidden underneath a pile of notebooks, probably full of cringy writing, and a pair of dragon wings and an idea popped into his mind.  
An hour later, Roman was walking down the street wearing his long cloak wrapped completely around his body, the dragon wings hot glued to the back, and a cardboard witch’s hat perched on his head. He carefully kept his arms tucked under the cloak, hiding the grey sweater and jeans that he didn’t consider very witchy. The first person he ran across wasn’t someone he particularly wanted to see, but upon seeing him, he had a most excellent idea. “Hey Uncle Mall Cop!” he called out as he did a quick jog to catch up to his uncle.  
Uncle Thomas turned and looked him up and down, “Hello, Roman. What are you supposed to be?”  
Roman gave a quick spin, holding his cloak closed with his hands, “I’m a dragon witch! See!”  
“Dragon witch?” Uncle Thomas took a step back to get a better look at the costume. “I suppose you are.”  
“Oh!” Roman stopped spinning with a quick exclamation. “I had the best idea! You should start carrying a samurai sword. You know, instead of a gun!”  
“A samurai sword?” Uncle Thomas raised an eyebrow, but there was a hint of a smile on his face that Roman caught.  
“Yeah! It would make you ten times scarier as a cop, you know?” Roman gave his uncle a big grin.  
“I’ll bring it up at the next meeting. See you later kid,” Thomas reached forward to ruffle his hair, but stopped due to the hat and just gave him a quick salute before walking away, whistling.  
“Bye Uncle Thomas!” Roman waved at him, noticing Uncle Thomas looking back with a quick smile before disappearing into the crowds of the festival. The festival. Roman looked up at it in excitement. It was the time of year that the entirety of downtown Possum Springs was transferred into a night to celebrate the spookiest night of the year. The night that Roman could act as crazy as he wanted, or needed because it was Halloween. Everyone was acting crazy.  
Roman wandered from booth to booth, taking his shot at the water balloon toss and the truth wheel while enjoying the very slow parade travelling down Main Street. After exploring a majority of the festival, Roman ducked into the Ol’ Pickaxe for a quick breath. Or he would have if it wasn’t for the fact that as soon as he opened the door, he heard Virgil screaming at his phone, “NO! NO! NO! You promised you would be here! You cannot back out now!” There was silence for barely a second before Virgil shouted, “Well, eff you too!” And then slammed the phone back down on the receiver. Roman took a quick step back, but that set off the bell and Virgil’s head snapped up, “Roman!”  
Roman quickly gulped and tried to calm his racing heart as he stepped back into the store, “Yes?”  
Virgil immediately launched into a very fast speech, “Look, I’m sorry about last night. I’m really frustrated dealing with my dad and incompetent employees and the store and everything other horrid thing happening in my life. And I know that it is no excuse. I shouldn’t have yelled at you. And I’m sorry about that. But I really need my help. For some unknown reason, I volunteered to host the founding of Possum Springs play, but the actors for my witch keep backing out. I have lost three in the last week. So, would you be willing to do it? I know it is last minute, but I really need somebody and you liked theatre in high school, even though we couldn’t afford to have our own program and-”  
“Virgil!” Roman cut him off as Virgil paused for a breath. “I’ll do it.”  
Virgil stared at him in surprise, “You will?”  
“Yeah! I’m already dressed for the part, it is obviously fate!” Roman exclaimed, spinning to show off his costume.  
Virgil tilted his head, “Are those dragon wings?”  
“Yeah! Cause I’m a dragon witch!”  
Virgil shook his head, “You know, I’m not even going to question you. Are you sure?”  
“Yeah. I have this part memorized already. I’ve always wanted to play the witch and have insisted upon coming to the play every year since I was four,” Roman explained.  
Virgil gave a low chuckle at that, “Actually, they’ve rewritten it six times in the last two years.”  
Roman faltered, “What?”  
“Yeah, something about making it more exciting as the play was losing popularity in recent years,” Virgil gave a dismissive wave with his hand.  
Roman raised his eyebrow, “So, it’s fake history now?  
“It’s a bad rewrite that doesn’t respect the source material. Still wanna do it?”  
Roman looked up in doubt, but sighed upon seeing the desperation on Virgil’s face, “Of course!”  
Virgil sighed in relief, “Come on! You’ve got five minutes to memorize your lines.”  
“Psshh, I’ll wing it,” Roman waved him off.  
“Roman, please don’t wing it.”

And thus, the first acting event that Roman would perform in Possum Springs began. A crowd of people had gathered in the Ol’ Pickaxe with Virgil standing on the counter holding a script. Roman watched from behind the counter as two of Virgil’s employees, Corbin and Brian, walked out wearing those stupid racoon hats. Virgil called out to the audience, “Who goes there? Be ye ghosts? Are you here to hear the tale about how Possum Springs came to be?” After a moment of silence, he continued, “Through the mists of time I see weary fur trappers from 1793.”  
“Brother Corbin!” Brian almost shouted.  
“Yes, Brother Brian?” Corbin said, rubbing at one ear next to Brian.  
“From this vantage point, I do spy a deep hollow and a great, dead tree. And besides with, uh which, a spring!” Brian declared.  
“Blessed are we Brother Brian for truly my throat is parched from these long and arduous travels and carrying these 300 beaver pelts,” Corbin said, almost monotone in his delivery.  
Brian grabbed him by the hand as he shouted, “Let us make haste, oh excellent brother!”  
As Corbin yanked his hand out of Brian’s, Roman hopped up onto the counter and called out, “Ho, travellers! Spare a crust of bread for a needy woman?”  
“What?” Virgil hissed behind him.  
Roman looked back at him, “I must have food to restore my youthful form.”  
The two blinked at each other for a long moment before Corbin finally spoke up, slightly confused but continuing the play, “Haggard witch!”  
“Horrible to look upon!” Brian added from behind Corbin.  
“Cruel young men,” Roman tsked at them. “Ye did not even offer one of your 300 beaver pelts to warm my ancient bones! I shall curse ye, and thee, and this very night, ye shall perish!”  
“I am fearful!” Brian gasped.  
Corbin held out one hand to him, “Steady, Brother Brian. I did not venture out into these hills to joust words with a hell-hag!”  
Roman cackled, “I was born between these trees beneath the light of a harvest moon and now ye shall die under that moon!”  
Brian grabbed onto the back of Corbin’s shirt, “Brother Corbin, I am frightened!”  
“Faith, Brother Brian!” Corbin said. “Art thou so easily shaken by the ramblings of an old crone? Come, help me carry these 300 beaver pelts.”  
The two walked off while Virgil spoke up from behind Roman, “But little did either of them know that the witch did not curse in vain.”  
Roman hopped back off the makeshift stage as Brian entered again. “Help! Help!” he called out. “Won’t anyone help a poor traveller?”  
Patton walked onto the stage, wearing a grey cat hoodie, “Um, uh, by the moon and stars above, sir, I beseech thee. What is thy trouble?”  
“What are you wearing?” Virgil hissed.  
“You called me two hours ago,” Patton whispered back. “I then worked for the next hour and forty-five minutes. This was the best I could do.”  
Virgil rolled his eyes as Roman climbed back onto the stage, “You’re in this?”  
“Yup! Last minute fill-in. You?” Patton asked.  
“Same,” Roman said.  
“ARRRRGGGGHHHH!” Brian screamed from behind them. “WITCH!”  
“Yup!” Roman nodded his head.  
“Dear sir, I do swear that this very day, this old crone did curse my brother and me to die!” Brian explained.  
“Now, why did you do that?” Patton tsked, turning back to Roman.  
Roman shrugged, “Girl’s gotta do what a girl's gotta do.”  
“We camped by this very spring beneath the dead tree,” Brian continued. “And even now his body lieth upon the earth, lifeless as a pile of 300 beaver pelts!”  
“Oh!” Patton clutched at his chest. “It chilleth the heart!”  
Roman cackled again, “A curse upon rude young men!”  
Patton dropped his hands, “That’s not-”  
“Um,” Brian and Patton both looked over at Virgil who just rolled his eyes. “Um, she has cursed the spring and now I shall die!” Brian then hopped off the counter, falling to the ground behind it.  
Roman and Patton stood there for a minute, staring at him before Roman finally said, “Wow.”  
Patton looked up at him with a grin, “I too have drinketh of the water and am now undone!”  
“Don’t leave me here, Patton,” Roman threatened.  
But Patton gave a cheery bye and then hopped off the counter to land on the floor next to Brian.  
Roman gave a defeated sigh before Virgil continued, “But even then, the curse’s lust for blood would not be sedated!” Roman stepped down the counter behind Virgil while Brian and Corbin climbed back onto the counter. “Gaze upon these spirits!” Virgil called out to the audience.  
“Brother! We are ghosts!” Corbin shouted. “I am tormented by the glare of 300 ghostly beavers!”  
“It would seem that all who die here can never leave,” Brian mussed.  
“Does that witch know what she hath done?” Corbin asked before he, Brian, and Virgil walked offstage.  
Roman walked to the middle of the counter, but totally blanked on what his line was, “Um… uh… Crap…”  
“For!” Virgil hissed at him.  
The line popped into Roman’s head, mostly, “For what is a ghost but that which haunts the empty space that was once full?”  
“And once haunted, can a place be unhaunted?” a voice called out from behind Roman. He turned to see the janitor from the train station come out.  
“You!” Roman hissed.  
The janitor gave him a smirk and said, “Young witch, it is I, the god of the forest!”  
Roman faltered, “Uh, just didn’t expect you to…”  
“Ain’t that the way,” the janitor said with a small laugh. “Witch, thou hast tarried too long in this world. I banish thee to wander in the night through the stranger places!”  
“How did you know?” Roman whispered.  
But the janitor just continued, “Young witch, let me speak wisdom unto you: We begin and we end, at night in the woods. But that is not the whole of the story.”  
Roman stared at him for a long moment before he heard a voice hiss beneath him, “This is your line!” He looked down to see that Virgil had crawled behind the counter so that he was directly below the janitor and Roman, the script open in his lap as he looked up at Roman.  
“Um, forest god! You have no power here!” Roman shouted, trying to get back on track.  
“Even now, thy end beginneth,” the janitor continued.  
“AHHH, my infernal powers!” Roman shouted.  
“Shhh, young witch. The world you know endeth and who's to say what lieth in the world to come?” Roman gulped as the janitor continued. “Beware as you go for there are ghosts. Take care.” The janitor then walked off as Patton, Corbin, and Brian make ghost noises from behind the counter.  
Virgil, Patton, Corbin, and Brian joined Roman on the counter and Virgil continued his narration, “And so then was founded this festival, and on Halloween, we shall celebrate the dying of the year and the founding of Possum Springs!”  
“I, Mayor Ghost, decree it!” Brian shouted.  
“The beaver population experienced a decline and now our biggest exports are corn and pumpkins!” Corbin announced.  
“We used to be the county seat!” Patton added.  
Roman cackled, but then started, “Actually, the myth of the wicked witch is the result of centuries of persecution by-”  
“And that’s our show!” Virgil suddenly cut him off. “Be careful as you leave here for who knows what may lurk in the darkness? Also, be sure to pick up a flyer on your way out from the Possum Springs Chamber of Commerce! Support your spooky local businesses!”  
The crowd burst into applause and started filling out.

After a quick cleaning of the store, Patton and Roman were standing outside the Ol’ Pickaxe as Virgil locked the door.  
“Well, that was fun!” Roman said as Virgil quickly lit a cigarette.  
“Says you,” Virgil said after taking a long breath. “I’ve been having to deal with that stupid show for weeks. I’m never volunteering to do that again.”  
“Then why did you do it? It doesn’t really seem like your sort of thing,” Patton asked, wrapping his arms around himself as the chill of the autumn night hit the group.  
“Needed to get on the bloody Chamber’s good side. Be a good business owner and such,” Virgil lifted the cigarette to his lips again.  
“But you’re not-” Roman faltered when Virgil shot him a glare and merely muttered, “Never mind.”  
“Salutations!” Logan called out as he walked up to the group, wearing a black and white flannel and what appeared to be a bumblebee-style headband and holding a large teddy bear wearing a witch costume. “Patton! I know I couldn’t get this for you last year, but I figure out the trick to the ball toss game. It took a couple of tries, but I got it. And now I am here to watch your-” Logan faltered as he realized the crew were all standing outside the now dark Ol’ Pickaxe. “Did I miss it?”  
Patton laughed and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, “Don’t worry about that big guy! I love this!” He gathered the teddy bear in his arms, “Thank you!”  
“Well,” Logan faltered, a hint of a blush creeping up on his face. “Um, are you ready to go?”  
“Ready!” Patton confirmed, hooking his arm through Logan’s.  
“Where are you going?” Roman spoke up as Virgil put out the last of his cigarette with his boot.  
“We’re having a date night!” Patton squealed. “We’re ordering pizza and watching b-list horror movies. It’s become a thing for us every Halloween.”  
Roman opened his mouth as if to say something, closed it, and then started again, “Well, have fun, you guys!”  
“Thank you! See you guys later!” Patton called out as the two started off down the street together.  
Roman turned to Virgil who had lit another cigarette, “Well, do you want to do anything?”  
Virgil shook his head, “I can’t. Got this Chamber of Commerce thing to go to. They are having some sort of Halloween party for the business owners. And I’m going to be late. See ya.”  
“Bye,” Roman’s voice trailed off as Virgil walked away, a trail of smoke behind him. Roman looked around at the now mostly-empty street. “Great, ten pm on Halloween night and I’m all alone. What happened, Roman?”  
Roman sighed as he scuffed at the ground with one shoe, but stopped when he heard a rustling sound. He backed up to pressed himself against the side of the Ol’ Pickaxe and peeked around the corner into the tiny park that was between it and the apartment building on the other side. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was just a young person sitting on a bench in a black hoodie, playing on their phone. But that was quickly swept away when all of the sudden, a cloaked figure swooped in out of nowhere, grabbed the teen, and took off down the sidewalk.  
“What!” Roman looked around, but there was no one nearby to call too for help, let alone who would have seen it. “Fine, gotta do everything myself,” he muttered and took off after the guy. The guy managed to weave in and out of Roman’s sight and it was only pure adrenaline that kept a quickly out-of-breath Roman running. And ran he did, until he slammed into a chain link fence on the other side of the Food Donkey. He looked up at the probably eight or ten-foot fence and then out at the cloaked figure holding the unconscious kid. The cloaked figure looked back at him, but Roman couldn’t distinguish the figure’s features in the dark before it turned and took off into the woods.  
Just a few seconds after it disappeared, suddenly lights flooded around Roman and he turned, shielding his eyes as someone shouted, “Roman! What are you doing out here?”  
“Uncle Thomas!” He cried out as he realized who it was. “The-there was a guy! A guy! He kidnapped this teen! Grabbed him by the, by the Ol’ Pickaxe! I- I tried chasing him! But he disappeared into the woods!”  
Thomas knelt down in front of him. “Calm down!” he said as he grabbed Roman by the shoulders. “What are you talking about?”  
“A kid was kidnapped! You gotta get him!” Roman waved out into the woods.  
“You’re telling me that someone cleared this ten-foot fence while carrying a teenager with you chasing them?” Thomas asked with a cocked eyebrow.  
Roman faltered, “I-I, um, I-”  
Thomas sighed, “Come on, Roman. Let’s get you home.”  
“No! No! No!” Roman would later say he only vaguely remembered getting put into the back of his uncle’s car and certainly didn’t remember making it home.  
What he did remember was about a thousand times worse, however. He remembered standing in the woods, just walking. Where to, he couldn’t say, but he did know that he had to keep walking, keep moving forward. The entire world around him was bathed in what seemed to be blood and Roman couldn’t sense anything around him. The leaves under his feet made no noise as he walked over them. There was no breeze wafting through the trees and he certainly couldn’t smell anything, let alone the blood that he was sure was coating the world around him.  
And without warning, there was a break in the trees and Roman stepped out into a clearing with a well just sitting in the centre of it. He walked over to look down into its dark depths, hearing the sound of clanging and someone screaming. But nothing in Roman could bring him to care about what was happening as he continued to stare down until suddenly…


	9. Chapter 9 (Thursday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter trigger warnings: mention of ghost hunting

Roman woke up the next morning, a scream tearing itself out of his throat. He looked around at his barely familiar bedroom, the dream from last night somehow a thousand times worse than anything that he had yet. It was real, but not like the way the other ones had felt. This one was too real. Roman leaned down under his bed to grab a dusty journal that he had left behind when he went to college, opening it and writing about the dreams he had recently, especially last nights.  
Downstairs, Roman found his mom once again scribbling in her own notebook. “Hey Mom,” he tried tentatively.  
She looked up at him and gave him a soft smile, “Hey honey. How are you?”  
“Tired,” he admitted, rubbing at the back of his neck.  
They both stared at each other for a long moment before they both started, “Look, I’m sorry-” They both cut off, laughing, and his mom started again, “I’m sorry, honey. For going off on you yesterday. I am frustrated, but that is no reason to take it out on you. Yes, I’m partly frustrated at you, but I’m willing to wait for you to tell me why.”  
“I’m sorry too. I said some things yesterday that were frankly uncalled for and I shouldn’t have,” Roman apologized. After a moment of silence, Roman asked, “What is happening, Mom? Really?”  
His mom sighed and closed the notebook, “When we were trying to pay for your college, we realized that between your dad losing his job twice, the hospital, the therapist, and paying off the lawyers, we didn’t have hardly any money to pay off your college. And with your hectic high school career, you couldn’t get enough scholarships. And, well, long story short, we took out a mortgage to help you and now the bank owns the house. We figured it would be a worthwhile investment, but we haven’t been able to make the payments and unless we can scrounge up the money quick, well…”  
Roman just stared at his mom in shock as she trailed off before saying, “I’m so sorry, Mom. This is all my fault.”  
“What!” his mom gasped. “Honey, no it isn’t.”  
Roman sniffed, “Yes, it is! If it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t have had to pay half of those things and then I just went and threw away all your hard work and, and-”  
His mom stood up and quickly gathered him in a hug, “Honey, you are okay. Despite everything that has happened, we still love you, okay?”  
Roman sniffed again, nodding. “Thank you, Mom,” he whispered, hoarsely.  
“Okay, I got to get into work now. But be safe today, okay honey?” Roman nodded again as his mom kissed him on his head. He stood there as he heard her leave, his eyes locked on her notebook. He walked around the table, reaching out as if to take it, but stopped and just walked away.

Roman walked through the streets of Possum Springs, slightly dazed and curling into the warmth of his jacket as the November air nipped at him. He had just got done with another star-gazing session with Dr. Picani during which Elliot had yelled up at them that Dr. Picani would fall off the roof one day. Dr. Picani responded by simply saying that he would make sure to fall right on them. When Roman left the two of them still bickering, he continued down the streets, not really interested in trying to find anyone or anything.  
Which is why he was shocked when he suddenly ran into something. That hurt. A lot. In hindsight, it really shouldn’t have ran into the offending object. He looked up, rubbing his nose, at a street pole that was directly in front of him. “Are you okay, Killer?” Roman jerked his head to the side to see Talyn standing, leaning against the building next to him.  
“What are you doing here, Talyn?” he muttered.  
“Well, I was up on the roofs, waiting for you to show up, and I see you walk by on the ground of all places. You didn’t look okay in the slightest, so I descended myself to check on ya. Is that okay, Killer?” Talyn asked as they unwrapped and popped a piece of gum in their mouth.  
“Yeah, I guess,” Roman muttered, leaning forward so that his forehead was leaning against the pole.  
Talyn blew a bubble before taking a step forward, their hands digging into their pockets, “Hey, what’s wrong?”  
“I saw a ghost last night. I hope,” Roman explained, his voice low.  
“You hope?” Talyn tilted their head to the side in confusion.  
“The alternative is a lot worse,” Roman pushed himself off the pole and started walking again. “I need to find my uncle. See ya later, Punk.”  
“Your uncle?” Talyn called after him.  
Roman looked back for just a second, “He’s a cop.”  
Roman tried to be more focused as he continued to wander through town looking for his uncle, but it was a task that proved to be increasingly difficult as his mind continued to wander further and further away. When he finally forced himself to focus, he realized that he had somehow found himself out in the parking lot of the Old Food Donkey once again, staring off at a figure talking to several others while wearing an orange beanie. He kept himself focused on that figure and walking towards them, completely missing the fact that the others had disappeared and Joan had turned to face him by the time he got there.  
“Are you okay there dude?” Joan asked. “You seemed to zoning out pretty bad.”  
Roman blinked at him for a second before finally recollecting all the bits of himself that seemed to be floating about, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired.”  
“You sure about that?” Joan tilted their head to the side, not seeming to believe him.  
Roman nodded, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. “Yeah,” he confirmed. “Who were they?”  
Joan followed Roman’s gaze to the direction that the other’s had disappeared too. “Train-hoppers,” they explained. “People who travel from town to town, riding the trains. Wanderers. Those without a home.”  
“Do you think Remy joined them?” Roman asked.  
Joan turned back to him with an almost impassive look, “Maybe. They rarely travel in groups. But he could be out there.”  
“I hope so. I hope he’s safe.”  
“I’m sure he is,” Joan said with a smile, then their eyes darted behind Roman. “Incoming.”  
Roman turned to see his uncle walking across the parking lot towards them. “Hey Uncle Mall Cop!” he called out cheerfully.  
Thomas raised an eyebrow at him before turning to Joan, “How are you today?”  
“I’m fine, but I do have to run home. My mom is expecting me.” And with that, Joan turned and walked off into the woods.  
“I worry about him,” Roman could hear Thomas mutter behind him, but when he turned to his uncle, he was staring down at him with that irritating look he seemed to keep reserved just for Roman. “Now, are you more calm than last night?” When Roman nodded, Thomas asked, “Then can you explain what you saw happen last night? Calmly.”  
Roman took a deep breath, “I was standing outside the Ol’ Pickaxe. I had tried to make plans with my friends, but they had other things to do, so I was alone. I noticed that there was what seemed to be a teen or a young adult in the park next to the Ol’ Pickaxe. All of the sudden, a cloaked figure swooped in and grabbed them. Nobody was nearby, so I took chase myself and chased them all the way to that fence. I don’t know how, but the figure made it to the other side and took off into the woods. That’s when you found me.”  
“Okay,” Thomas nodded. “I see exactly two problems with your story, Roman. One, there have been no missing person reports from last night. Two, there is no way the guy could have cleared the fence carrying a kid.”  
Roman clenched his fist as he snarled, “No one ever believes the one who saw a ghost. Well, guess what! The cop always dies!”  
“Ghost?” Thomas raised an eyebrow.  
“It went through the fence?” Roman tentatively suggested.  
Thomas just sighed, “Really Roman?”  
Thomas started to turn and walk away, but Roman leapt forward and grabbed his arm, “Can you please take this slightly seriously? At least check the woods, maybe there is-”  
“I did!” Thomas turned and snapped at Roman. “I did take you seriously. And there was absolutely zero evidence out there. I can’t find the missing kid. And you know why? Because there is none.” Roman took a step back, looking up at his uncle in shock. Thomas took a deep breath, collecting himself again, “Maybe you should go see your doctor again. Goodbye, Roman.”  
Roman stood there for a long moment, watching as his uncle disappeared from view. He reached up one hand to touch whatever was making his face wet, pulling it away to look almost absent-mindedly down at the water. Realizing that he was crying, Roman scrubbed furiously at his eyes and set off, determined to find at least one of his friends. Maybe he could find someone else who believed him. 

Patton wasn’t at the Snack Falcon and Logan wasn’t at the video store, leaving Roman to become slightly panicky. He started jogging towards the Ol’ Pickaxe, but quickly stopped when he heard voices coming from within the slightly open door of the Party Barn. He stepped closer, opening the door slightly more as he peeked in on his friends.  
“I’m sure he’s fine. You know Roman, always sleeping in late. That certainly hasn’t changed,” Logan was saying, standing up on the stage with his arms crossed. Patton was sitting on the edge of the stage, his eyes flickering between Logan and Virgil, who was pacing around the room.  
“Yeah, but he hasn’t responded to Patton’s IMs, no one answered his house phone, and he usually turns up at one of our workplaces by now. What if something is actually wrong?” Virgil was two tones short of actually growling at Logan.  
“AWWW!” Roman broke in, pushing the door all the way open. “You do care about me!”  
Patton jumped up and ran over, squealing Roman’s name as he wrapped him up in a hug. “Finally, he has shown up. Can we continue now?” Logan turned and stomped over to his microphone.  
Roman let go of Patton and looked over at Virgil. Virgil stared at him for a minute before saying, “Yeah, let’s go,” and turning to stomp over to where his computer was set up. Patton and Roman looked at each other and Patton just shrugged before running over to join the others.  
After band practice, Roman convinced the others to stay late and told them what had happened the night before and what his uncle had told him that afternoon.  
“Wait,” Patton said. “So you saw a real bona-fide ghost last night? Why wasn’t I there?”  
Logan cleared his throat as Roman continued, “I don’t really know what I saw. I’m hesitant to say ghost, but how else did he manage to clear that fence?”  
“To be honest, neither solution seems very likely. But say we went with your ghost theory: how would we go about proving it correct?” Logan asked  
“Ghost-hunting?” Roman suggested.  
At the sound of a scoff, Roman turned to where Virgil was sitting who said, “No, we should probably do research first rather than just diving in completely blind. What we could start with is checking the old newspaper records at the library.” At the other three’s blank looks, he continued, “The library? Seriously, you guys don’t know we have one? Even the former pocket-protector.”  
“Well, the school certainly didn’t have a library and I have always gotten books online,” Logan admitted, kinda sheepishly.  
“I really don’t think Roman or I have to excuse ourselves. The reason is pretty obvious,” Patton said with a gesture between them.  
“Hey!” Roman protested.  
But Virgil cut in with another sigh, “True. But since it seems that I’m the only who has ever been there, I’ll take Roman looking for hints about his ghost.”  
“Yes! Ghost-hunting team, disperse!” Roman announced, but Virgil just grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out, swinging the keys in his other hand.  
Patton called out behind them, “Come to the apartment when you’re done!” Roman barely saw Logan elbowing Patton before the door swung shut behind them.  
When the two got to the library, Roman was immediately blown away by the sheer size and niceness of it. “How did a library of all places manage to pull this off?” he protested.  
Virgil shrugged, “Someone made a large enough donation intended for a library. So even if the residents of Possum Springs barely know this place exists because they are all working themselves to death in order to barely survive, the library lives on.”  
“That seems like a strange sort of ironic,” Roman said as the two walked into the building.  
“Come on.” Virgil led the way into the library and the two made their way up to the third floor. Once up there, Virgil started coughing, “It is dusty up here.”  
“It’s OLD up here,” Roman corrected, looking around at the dusty spines of the books lining the shelves.  
“Maybe your ghost is up here?” Virgil suggested, missing the way Roman’s face fell.  
“Yup, ghost,” Roman snarked. “Or something. Whatever he was, he walked through a chain-link fence or flew over it or something all while carrying someone.”  
Virgil chuckled, “Oh right, that’s even more impressive.”  
Roman chose to ignore his tone, continuing, “So, we’re going to find this guy because he took someone. And he’s somehow connected to this thing I’ve been going through and that’s not good.” Roman looked up at Virgil, who was just staring at him with a raised eyebrow. He sighed, “That all sounded a lot more badass in my head.”  
Virgil shook his head, “It’s okay. It was fine.” The two started through the shelves, making their way to the back of the floor where an ancient-looking computer sat. “There she is.”  
“Cool,” Roman just stood next to Virgil, staring at it.  
Virgil looked over at the still Roman and prompted, “So…”  
Roman looked over at Virgil, “I have no idea how to use it.”  
“Really?” Virgil’s voice dropped to just above his growling-tone.  
“Well, I can’t be expected to know how to do everything!” Roman scoffed.  
Virgil laughed, “I’m sorry? What expertise have you brought to this so far?”  
“This whole thing was my idea!” Roman stomped his foot much like a child and released a small cloud of dust into the air.  
“No,” Virgil corrected. “Your idea was ghost-hunting. My idea was to at least do a tiny bit of research on it.  
“If you think it’s so stupid, then why are you here?” Roman snarled.  
“Because I’m your friend, you asshole!” Virgil snapped back.  
Roman’s eyes immediately widened, his entire posture softening as he awwwed at the statement. Virgil’s nose wrinkled up as he plopped down in the chair in front of the strange machine. Roman hopped up to hang off the back of the chair as he asked, “Aw we fwiends, Wirgil?”  
“I’m going to set this up,” Virgil said, completely ignoring Roman’s antics. “We’ll be here all night if your dumb ass is in charge.” Surprisingly quickly, Virgil had a whole collection of newspaper articles pulled up and asked, “What are we looking for exactly?”  
Roman leaned over the back of Virgil’s chair more, scanning the screen, “Anything involving missing people or ghosts.”  
The two scrolled through a multitude of articles, dismissing several before they finally found their first clue. “Local Ghost ‘Little Joe’ At It Again,” Roman read outloud.  
Virgil scanned the article, “Well, it’s at the graveyard. That’s a gimme.”  
“I mean, if you’re looking for ghost stuff,” Roman muttered. “That’s where you get a lot of them.”  
“Looks like they saw him in the old section,” Virgil murmured as he kept reading. “I don’t know if you can get back there.”  
“You can,” Roman said with a little too much confidence. When Virgil looked over at him with a raised eyebrow, Roman reaffirmed, “We can.”  
Virgil looked back at the screen, “You’re lucky I’m actually interested in this one.”  
“How can you not be interested?” Roman shouted. “This is actual dangerous ghost stuff!”  
“Shhh!” Virgil hissed. He was slightly red as he admitted, “I like history.”  
“Ghosts are history!” Roman exclaimed, although quieter than before. “History that won’t stay history!”  
Virgil gave him a genuine smile, “That was actually pretty good.”  
“I know,” Roman bragged and Virgil scoffed as he turned back to the screen. After some more scrolling, they eventually found something else. Roman read outloud once more, “Ghostly Rumors Haunt New Historical Society.”  
“Historical society?” Virgil questioned.  
“History that won’t stay history in a history place!” Roman exclaimed.  
Virgil looked up at him, “History place?”  
Roman nodded, “Yup! I’ve never been.”  
“You didn’t go in school? I thought everyone did,” Virgil asked.  
Roman just looked at the screen, “I think that was when I wasn’t in school.”  
Virgil looked back down at the screen for a moment before the pieces recollected. “Oh yeah!” he exclaimed. “After the softball incident.”  
“Yeah,” Roman was much quieter. “I mostly just watched TV and did therapy.”  
Virgil looked back at him, “Well, it is actually a pretty cool old house. I think one of the mine owners used to own it or something? Railroad? Mine? Steel mill? Something like that.”  
Roman gasped, “So, it’s an actual haunted house!”  
“Uh, no,” Virgil rolled his eyes. “Elementary kids are there all the time. They have like summer arts and crafts programs.”  
“Still worth checking out though,” Roman decided. The two continued scrolling when Roman stopped Virgil suddenly, pointing at the screen with a, “Hey! Look at this!”  
Virgil leaned forward to read the title, “Spectral Happenings at Possum Jump.” He leaned back again, “Possum Jump. That’s back up at the State Park, right?”  
“Yup!” Roman confirmed.  
Virgil looked up at him, “You ever been up there?”  
“Nope!” Roman said with a smile. “Gonna check it out though!”  
“Go nuts,” Virgil said with a wave. “That’s probably only a mile or so from Mrs. Pacelli’s place. Lots of strange things up there.”  
Roman shuddered, “Well, I’ll try to avoid any basements this time.”  
Virgil snorted, “Agreed.”  
“Well, that is like three leads. I think we have a start,” Roman fell off the back of Virgil’s chair. “Let’s boogie!”  
“Boogie?” Virgil questioned, but by the time he turned towards Roman, Roman was already disappearing into the shelves, leaving Virgil to scramble up and chase after him.  
Very quickly, the two were had pulled up in front of Patton and Logan’s apartment and were upstairs in the living room drinking water from styrofoam cups that Patton had dug out of who knows where. Roman slammed his cup down onto the coffee table, stepping around it so that he was facing the other three still sitting on the couch. “Thank you for coming here today,” Roman started.  
“We live here,” Logan interrupted.  
The other three just turned to stare at him as he continued to stare off into space. Roman just waved him off, “The details aren’t important.”  
Patton sighed, “Okay, so did you guys find out anything about your ghost?”  
“Yeah!” Roman finger-gunned towards Virgil, “Tell ‘em, Verge!”  
Virgil groaned, but uncurled himself and leaned forward, “Sure, why not? There were newspaper clippings talking about ghost sightings at some different places.”  
“Not just any ghost!” Roman cut in. “Little Joe!”  
“I don’t really remember Little Joe,” Logan admitted after a brief pause.  
“He’s a ghost miner!” Roman said, a little too excited. “He died in mysterious circumstances!”  
“Wow,” Patton murmured.  
Roman chose to interpret it and said, “I know, right? Mysterious!”  
Virgil tilted his head in confusion, “I thought you were afraid of this ghost? Like filled with dread and such?”  
Roman nodded enthusiastically as he raised his arms in the air with a huge grin, “Oh, I’m terrified!”  
Virgil shook his head, “Okay then.”  
“So, the clippings mentioned three different places we can check out!” Roman continued.  
“Um, I have work and such,” Virgil argued.  
“We all do,” Logan cut in with a pointed look at Patton who was taking great interest in his shoes.  
“But you guys skip work all the time,” Roman said in confusion.  
Virgil chose to ignore him, “Maybe we can split it up? Share custody of you and your ghost?”  
“What places were you thinking about?” Patton finally joined in.  
“Well, there is the graveyard-” Roman started.  
“I call that one,” Virgil cut in. “It is close and not illegal. I have to go by anyway.”  
A sly grin came onto Patton’s face, “Is there an illegal one?”  
Logan growled, but Roman just nodded, “Yup! The historical society!”  
“You know you don’t have to break in?” Virgil said, his eyes darting between the two. “There are people who work there who get paid to show it to you.”  
Patton and Roman just stared at him for a long moment before Roman rolled his eyes, “Anyway…”  
“I’ll take the Historical Society,” Patton said with a solemn nod.  
Roman cheered and Logan groaned before asking, “And what did I get stuck with?”  
“Possum Jump!”  
Logan’s face lit up. “Possum Jump?” he confirmed. “I know it! I used to go there when I was in Scouts all the time!”  
“Perfect!” Roman cheered again.  
“Alright, I gotta get home and do actual work now. Wanna ride, Roman?” Virgil heaved himself to his feet, pulling his keys out of his pocket.  
“Yup!” Roman danced over to the door. “This is going to be awesome! Also, I’m scared to death!”

After being dropped off at home, Roman found his dad in the living room, watching his show. “Hey, Dad,” he said, slipping his jacket off.  
His dad absentitly looked up at him, “Hello Roman. Missed dinner again.”  
“Sorry,” Roman muttered. Great, they were doing that again. He looked at the back of his dad’s head and quickly built up the courage to ask, “Dad, are we having money problems? Mom seemed really worried when I talked to her today.”  
There was silence for a long moment, almost too long. Finally, his dad spoke again, “No.”  
“But-”  
“We are not having money issues. We are fine,” his dad said, the finality in his tone obvious.  
Roman hung his head, “Yes, Dad. Good night.”  
“Good night.” Roman made his way upstairs and crawled into bed, fearful for what was coming next.  
In all fairness, his dreams were not nearly as bad as the one from the night before. At least he was vaguely sure this one wasn’t so real. The crooked buildings seemed normal, but the flying fish and people floating through the world around him were a much stronger clue. It didn’t help that he couldn’t really see the details on anything around him. All Roman knew was that he too was floating through the air, aimless as everything else around him. He could only confirm it was a dream when a crane swooped in, scooping up and eating one of the floating fish. It wasn’t that that was unusual. It was that the crane started dissolving into white light along with everything around it that tipped him off. He was pretty sure that that didn’t happen in reality. That was his last thought before he dissolved with everything else around him.


	10. Day 10 (Friday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter trigger warnings: More ghost-hunting, petty crimes, chase scene

The next day, Roman woke up to one message on his still open computer.  
PattyCake: i wanna chck the place out tnight  
PattyCake: Stp by when ur ready 2 go  
Roman’s mom was leaving just as he was getting downstairs and she merely told him to come by the church before disappearing out the door. A half of jar of peanut butter later and he was gone as well, looking for his friends. He wasn’t overly keen on going to the church just yet, but he couldn’t find Talyn on the roofs. So, he started out towards the Food Donkey, maybe Joan was around.  
Sure enough, Joan was shopping cart surfing around the empty parking lot and called out when they spotted Roman making his way across the pavement. They skidded to a stop next to him “What are you doing all the way out here?” Joan asked.  
“Looking for you,” Roman said. “What are you doing?”  
Joan grinned, “Just wasting time. You wanna see something cool?”  
Roman crossed his arms, “What sort of thing?”  
Joan laughed, “You’ll see. You’ll see.” Of course, Roman followed Joan out of the parking lot, through town, to the bridge that one crossed to enter or leave town just before the woods. Could you blame him? He was curious. Joan hopped up on the edge of the bridge, “You ready?”  
“For what?” Roman asked. Joan gave him another wicked grin and then hopped off the edge of the bridge. Roman gasped and ran over to the rail, looking down for them. Joan was bouncing to a halt on top of a trampoline someone had placed about eight feet below.  
They looked up at him and called up, “Come on down! The thing is down here!”  
Roman grinned and hopped over the rail after them, giggling as he bounced on the trampoline and slowed to a halt after several bounces. Joan waved at him and hopped off the trampoline, running down the small gorge. “It’s down here!” they called back.  
Roman quickly ran after them, skidding to a stop after them at what seemed to be the entrance to the sewers. “What is this place?” he asked Joan as he followed them in.  
Joan pulled out a flashlight, clicking it on as they answered, “The home to my closest friend.” They shined it down the tunnel, a possum showing up in the beam of light.  
“Who is that?” Roman said in awe as Joan called out to the possum and it skittered down the tunnel towards the two.  
“This is Rabies,” Joan explained.

After meeting Rabies with Joan, Roman decided that he should probably go visit his mom at the church like she had asked. On his way, he ran across someone he hadn’t seen in quite some time, even before he went to college. Patton’s cousin. “Jen?” he asked, taking a step closer.  
“Hey there squirt!” she called back. “How’s my fav cousin’s best friend? It’s been such a long time!”  
“It has been!” Roman laughed.  
“Look, I have to run, but tell Pat to come see me in Bright Harbor sometime! I’ve heard he is planning on moving there soon! I would love to see him when he does!” Jen said with a smile.  
However, Roman’s entire demeanour suddenly changed. “He’s not leaving here,” he said slowly.  
Jen looked him up and down with a frown as she realized something, “I think he should spread his wings and such.”  
“His wings are just fine here,” Roman narrowed his eyes.  
Jen crossed her arms, clearly looking very unimpressed by Roman’s threatening body language, “Pat’s too big for this town.”  
Roman continued the staring contest for a long minute before finally admitting, “That’s true.”  
He lowered his head and turned to walk away, completely ignoring Jen calling after him, “Goodbye, Roman!”  
He practically dragged his feet to the large stone steps that led up the hill that the church resided on and into the church, carefully changing his demeanour to give a cheerful hello to his mom.  
“Hey darling!” she said. “There is something I want to show you.” His mom called back into one of the offices, “Hey Pastor K, I’m going to take the rest of the day off.”  
“Alright Dot!” A strange voice that Roman didn’t recognize called back out. “I’m going to take off here soon as well.”  
Roman’s mom gathered up her purse and the two drove just outside of town to a place that Roman didn’t recognize. It was a large field, the grass reaching up to Roman’s waist leading him to have to wade through it. A large stone structure was way out in the middle of the field and as Roman wandered towards it with his mother, he asked, “What is this place?”  
“It’s a place known as Dahlia’s field. My mother brought me here when I was a child and then I used to come here all the time when I was a teenager with my friends. Had my first kiss out here too,” his mom said.  
“Ew, but Dahlia’s field? Why do they call it that?” Roman asked, running out slightly ahead of his mom.  
“Because a girl named Dahlia came out here with her mom one day. She ran out ahead of her mom and fell into a sinkhole and was never seen again.”  
Roman came to a sudden stop, watching his mom as she walked past him. “Mom, why did we come out here?” he asked.  
“No reason,” she said with absolutely no change to her tone. Roman elected to stick close to his mom as they continued across the field. He let out a slight scream when his foot suddenly slipped into a hole and he fell to the ground. “Are you okay?” he heard from above him.  
“Yeah, it wasn’t a sinkhole. Just a regular hole,” Roman pushed himself back up to his feet and saw his mom standing a few yards ahead of him, an almost disappointed look on her face.  
“Pity,” she said before turning and walking on towards the structure. Roman gulped and followed her, not completely sure if she was joking, but really hoping she was.  
“What is that structure?” Roman asked, as they finally reached it.  
“It is a furnace. But because of the sinkholes, it has sunk nearly halfway into the ground. I used to climb to the top,” his mom explained, a smile on her face.  
“Can I climb it?” Roman asked as he started to walk around the edge looking for some form of footholds.  
“I’d say no, but you won’t listen to me anyway,” his mom answered.  
“Yup!” Roman answered cheerfully, grabbing onto a hold and started climbing. He was kind of surprised when he reached the top, “It’s sealed!”  
His mom laughed, “Yeah, the city was afraid that stupid teens like you and me would fall down so they sealed the top.” His mom turned and started to walk back across the field.  
“Mom?” Roman called back after her.  
“I gotta make dinner, Roman,” his mom simply answered.  
“Mom, don’t leave me,” Roman started scrambling down.

Roman managed to catch up to his mother and convince her to drop him off outside the Snack Falcon. She really wanted him to come home, but he explained that he had already promised to hang out with Patton that evening and was able to convince her to drop him off.  
Just as his mom drove off, Patton came out of the Snack Falcon holding a toolbox and a flashlight. “You ready?” he asked Roman with a grin, leading the way to his motorized bike.  
“You sure we can’t do this during the day when they are actually open?” Roman asked as he fastened his helmet.  
“Yup!” Patton said, strapping the toolbox to the bike before grabbing his own helmet. “We’d have to avoid tour guides and guards to get into all the off-limits areas and everyone knows ghosts are more prominent at night.”  
The two rode over towards the Historical Society, stopping down the road, hiding the bike in the woods before pulling the toolbox off. As the two emerged from the woods and Roman finally got to see the house, he stopped in shock. “It looks kinda…”  
“Like a haunted house?” Patton suggested, turning back towards Roman.  
Roman gulped as he looked at his friend bathed in the red light of the almost-set sun with the historical society behind him. “Yeah,” he muttered as the two continued trudging up to the back of the building near a small door. Roman flicked on the flashlight, pointing it at the ground as he stared up the side of the four or five-story building. “So, what is the plan for getting in?”  
Patton opened the toolbox, pulling out a couple of tools, “The basement. Lucky for us, I know how to lockpick.”  
“When did you learn how to lockpick?”  
“When I locked myself out of my apartment for the second time,” Patton knelt down and started on the padlock. “Shine the light right here, won’t you?” Roman focused the light on the padlock as Patton worked. A rustle in the trees behind them caught Roman’s attention and he quickly flicked the light over towards the trees. “What is it?” Patton hissed behind him.  
Roman took a minute to move the light back and forth, trying to find the source of the noise. “Nothing,” he finally whispered back.  
Roman moved the light back to him and Patton started on the lock again. Patton was the one who heard the rustling this time. “Did you hear that?” he whispered.  
Roman flicked the light back over to the trees and then lowered it to the padlock, “There is nothing there.”  
Patton huffed and started on the lock again. They ignored the third rustle at first, but then it suddenly got louder. Patton clicked the lock open and set the tools down beside him. Roman the light back over to the trees as Patton started to open the door. He immediately screeched, dropping the flashlight as he saw a dark figure with beady yellow eyes swooped at them. Patton whipped around as the creature started attacking him and with a yell, he tripped and fell through the dark door. Roman scooped up a couple of heavy objects nearby and chucked them at the creature who quickly flew back to avoid getting hit. While the creature was distracted, Roman dove through the door, slamming it shut behind him. He landed on something soft that immediately let out a cry of pain before asking, “Do you mind?”  
Roman quickly scrambled off his friend and the two took a moment to catch their breath and let their eyes adjust to the darkness.”What was that thing?” Roman asked, still trying to steady his breath.  
“An owl, I think?” Patton guessed. “That’s what it seemed to be. What happened to the flashlight?”  
Roman felt around beside him before recalling he had been throwing objects at the owl. “It’s outside,” he admitted. “Did you grab your lockpicking kit in case there are any more locked doors?”  
He heard a sigh before an admission, “It’s outside.”  
“Well,” Roman said as he pushed himself to his feet. “We’ll just hope there aren’t any locked doors. Or we can find keys. Or, what do you keep in your kit?”  
“I can do it with a paperclip and pliers. Those are common enough so we should be able to find them,” Roman squinted at the silhouette of Patton talking beside him. “Which way should we go now?”  
“I’m thinking that way,” Roman pointed towards a faint red light shining in the distance that was providing them with the slight bit of light they had.  
“Okay, go,” Patton gave Roman a slight push.  
“Why do I have to go first?” Roman asked.  
“It’s your ghost,” Patton explained. Roman gave a defeated sigh. Patton really wasn’t wrong so he started off towards the light with Patton close behind him. The hallway really wasn’t that long and when they turned the corner, they could see that the red light was from an exit sign posted between two elevators before the hallway just ended.  
Patton and Roman looked at each other for a second before Roman shrugged and suggested, “I guess we try the elevators.” Roman walked up to the first elevator, but there was a lock box over the call button.  
“Why would they lock down an elevator?” Patton asked, having walked up behind Roman.  
“Maybe they don’t want people coming down to the basement from the main part of the house unless they are authorized.”  
“But the other one is unlocked,” Roman looked up to see that Patton was indeed pointing at an elevator button for the second one that didn’t have a lock box over it.  
“Okay, that is just strange,” Roman muttered, straightening up and crossing his arms.  
“But it gives us a way out of this stupid basement,” Patton walked over and pressed the button. The elevator doors opened, bathing the hallway in a cold, yellow light. The elevator took them up with the two watching as the numbers changed from 1 to 2 to 3 and then stopped. Roman and Patton stepped out to an empty hallway, no windows, no doors, and only one other elevator.  
“I guess we are going back down,” Roman said as he stared at the down arrow next to the elevator.  
“Why didn’t the other elevator stop on the second floor?” Patton asked.  
“I have no idea,” Roman pressed the button and they travelled back down in the elevator to the second floor. They stepped out into a very open area with a lot of exhibits and one other elevator. “I think we found the main floor,” Roman whispered as he looked around at the haunted-looking showcases.  
“If I remember correctly,” Patton whispered, turning to walk down one of the hallways.  
On their way, Roman stopped at a spiral staircase that bore a sign that read, “Closed for Insurance Purposes.” “So instead of fixing the staircases, they just put in a bunch of elevators that don’t connect,” Roman complained.  
“We don’t know that for sure yet,” Patton said from ahead of him, pushing open a door. “Bingo.”  
Roman scrambled forward to look in behind Patton, “What did you find?”  
Patton stepped into the room, moving something on a table which lit up a computer screen, illuminating a small office. Roman whistled as Patton smirked, “Yep, I was right.”  
“Think we can find any clues about ghosts in the computer?” Roman asked.  
“Unfortunately, our resident hacker didn’t come with us because we are doing ‘dangerous illegal activities,’ but,” Patton leaned down and started rifling through desk drawers. It was only half a minute and three drawers later that he emerged with a shiny paper clip. “Now all we have to do is find a set of pliers and we’ll be set.”  
The two quickly decided to take the second elevator up and it stopped on the fourth floor. Roman let out a cry of frustration when he saw another elevator that not only went down, but was locked. “This doesn’t even make any sense!” he all but screeched.  
“SSSSHHHHH!!!!” Patton suddenly hushed him, slapping his hand over Roman’s mouth. The two were silent for a long moment, listening to the sound of the old building settling. Finally, Patton pulled his hand away, whispering, “I thought I heard footsteps.”  
“Do you mean there could be someone else here?” Roman whispered.  
“I thought we were ghost hunting!” Patton hissed, grabbing at the edge of the sleeves of his cardigan, rubbing them between his fingers.  
Roman shoved his hands into his pockets, “We are. Real people are far scarier.”  
“Why would you say that?” Patton asked.  
“Because real people can kill you,” Roman turned towards the dark room. “So what room is this?”  
Patton took a step forward, looking up at the glowing panels on the wall, “The map room. This is an old map of Possum Springs. Probably around the 70s, I think. Logan could tell you more specifically.”  
“Wow,” Roman scanned the whole map. “It looks so different.”  
“Yeah, we’ve gone through a lot of changes in just the last few years, let alone the last, what forty?” Patton said with a frown.  
Roman sighed, lowering his head, “Yeah, I guess.”  
“Oh!” Patton dashed forward having spotted something. He pulled a red toolbox out from under one of the displays in front of the large map and opened it to grab a pair of pliers. “Now we’re in business again!”  
“Awesome! Let’s start by seeing where that locked elevator goes!” Roman and Patton walked over to the lockbox. “How long do you think it will take?”  
Patton shrugged, “I don’t have my good tools. It will take me a bit longer, especially since I’m out of practice with this method.”  
Roman nodded and waited for a minute in silence. That was cut short when suddenly the other elevator shuddered to life. “Um, that one only comes between here and the second floor, right?”  
“Yup,” Patton gulped and started on the lock again.  
“Pat?” Roman stepped in front of Patton to shield him, but the fear was evident in his voice.  
“Got it!” Patton finally said as the lockbox opened and he pressed the call button. The elevator immediately opened and the two started down. However, they were quickly disappointed when the elevator opened in the basement and they stepped out to see they had just ridden in the original elevator. “Oh come on!” Patton yelled, throwing the pliers down onto the floor.  
“Hey, at least we have the stuff now. We can see where the other elevator leads,” Roman suggested.  
Patton glared at him, “And just where would this elevator lead that we haven’t already been?”  
“I thought the building had five stories from the outside,” Roman pointed out. “We have been on five floors, but this is the basement, which I didn’t account for them.”  
Patton’s face broke out into a grin, “There is another floor.”  
“Exactly!” Roman grinned himself as Patton scooped the pliers back up and started on the lockbox. Suddenly, the elevator next to them shuddered to life once again and they heard it start to leave. “Pat, buddy, you might want to work faster,” Roman said, the fear returning to his voice.  
“I’m trying,” Patton hissed behind him.  
Roman listened to the elevator ride all the way to the top, stop, then start returning, “Patton?”  
“Almost- got it!” Patton barely had time to press the button before Roman spun around and shoved him into the elevator and hit the ‘door shut’ button as many times as he had to before it finally slid shut as the elevator next to them arrived in the basement. Roman fell to the floor of the elevator, panting as they rode up, up, up. “Are you okay?” Patton whispered. Roman merely whimpered in response as the number on the elevator gradually rose, finally hitting five as the elevator shuddered to a stop. Patton helped Roman up and the two stepped out into what appeared to be an attic space. “What is this place?”  
“What is that?” Roman whispered to himself and pulled himself out of Patton’s grasp, walking over to a weird art collection.  
“Look at all this! Where did the Possum Springs Historical Society of all places get this stuff?” Patton said, looking around at all the pieces just laying out for everyone to see.  
Roman, however, was locked onto one specific piece. “I’ve seen this before,” he muttered as he stepped closer to a strange painting of crooked building and flying fish.  
“Yeah, it was probably a part of a previous display,” Patton pointed out.  
“No, I’ve never been here before. It had to be somewhere else,” Roman waved his friend off, stepping closer to get a better look.  
Patton gasped as the elevator shuddered to life and started to sink away. “Roman, we gotta go,” he pulled at Roman’s jacket sleeve. “And there isn’t another elevator to escape in.”  
“Somewhere recent,” Roman continued to mutter to himself.  
Patton groaned and turned to look around the room. “There’s a window!” he exclaimed, running over to it. “And a fire escape!” There was a crashing sound as Patton quickly broke the window and then he ran back over to Roman, “Come on!”  
Roman gasped as he came back to when he heard the elevator start to rise. He allowed Patton to grab him, drag him over to the window, and help him out. Patton started down the fire escape, calling for Roman to follow him, which he quickly did. But Roman couldn’t help, but glance in windows as he passed, noticing the shifting shadows and cloaked figures running around behind the curtains. He had made it to the third floor when a light of one of the windows also on the third floor suddenly flicked on. Roman pressed himself against the house, holding his breath as the wind around him began to howl. He chanced a glance downwards to see Patton, having already made it to the ground, staring back up at him, worry creasing his face. Roman then chanced a sideways glance over to the window. A shadowed figure suddenly appeared at the window and Roman had to stifle a gasp as he realized it looked just like the cloaked figure from a couple nights ago, Halloween night, that kidnapped the teen. He waited an agonizingly long minute before the light finally flicked off and Roman took off once again, running flying off the second-floor fire escape, landing solidly on Patton. The two immediately collapsed and lay on the hill next to the building for barely ten seconds before Roman whispered, “We should go.”  
Panic was still obvious on Patton’s face as he nodded in agreement and the two took off across the lawn. Right before they disappeared into the trees, Roman chanced one last glance back, noting a shadow figure standing where he had landed from the fire escape. He gasped and turned to follow Patton, barely noting, out of the corner of his eye, the figure flying off around the side of the building. 

With a slight threat on Roman’s life not to tell Logan, Patton dropped Roman off in front of his strangely dark house. Roman slightly cursed to himself as he realized that it was two am, well past any other time he had stayed out the last week, which is why, when he stepped inside and peeked into the living room, his dad was nowhere to be seen.  
Roman quickly slipped upstairs, ignoring several messages from LBerry about what had happened that night, but accepting a friend request from a VergeofAnxiety.  
RomanoTaco: verge????  
VergeofAnxiety: im already regretting this  
RomanoTaco: no!!!! dont!!!  
VergeofAnxiety: …  
RomanoTaco: ???  
VergeofAnxiety: fine  
RomanoTaco: yay!!!  
VergeofAnxiety: how did tonight go  
RomanoTaco: we wre chased by smthin. think it was te ghost  
VergeofAnxiety: sure it wasnt a security guard  
RomanoTaco: i got a lok at it  
RomanoTaco: it was the sme figur  
VergeofAnxiety: well shit  
RomanoTaco: u culd say that agan  
VergeofAnxiety: well shit  
RomanoTaco: actually dont  
VergeofAnxiety: hey i have a favour to ask  
RomanoTaco: wht Anx?  
VergeofAnxiety: dont call me that  
RomanoTaco: i used to al the time thoh!  
VergeofAnxiety: im going to a party tomorrow out in Gainesville and i want a friend there  
VergeofAnxiety: just dont  
RomanoTaco: a party??? and you want me???  
VergeofAnxiety: dont make me regret asking you  
RomanoTaco: but i havnt said yes?  
VergeofAnxiety: your going  
RomanoTaco: im going  
VergeofAnxiety: meet me at the pickaxe at five  
Roman signed off and fell back into his bed, shutting his laptop lid as another message from Logan popped up and slowly fell asleep. The events of the day must have been affecting him still because his dreams took a whole ‘nother twist to the weirdness that already existed in them.  
Roman found himself just floating out in space. There were no buildings, no flying creatures. Absolutely nothing familiar. Absolutely nothing at all. Roman didn’t know how long he was floating there. It could have been a few minutes. It could have been a few hours. Time seemed meaningless in this void. Eventually, he spotted a shape in the distance. It was abstract, not really resembling anything. But it was different. That alone made Roman strain to get closer to it. As he drew nearer, Roman got the sense that the thing was looking at him, a sense he could not explain as there were no obvious eyes on the thing. “Hello?” Roman tried, his voice almost instantly carried away by the strange wind that had helped him float closer.  
The thing almost seemed to be staring down at him for a long moment, processing and savouring the simple greeting Roman had offered. Finally, it responded in a reverberating voice that echoed all around Roman and seeped into his very core, “Hello.”  
Roman gasped in shock, “Um, who are you? Are you like god or something?”  
“No,” the creature responded, his voice almost monotone. “I am not god. I am a monstrous existence.”  
“Okay, um,” Roman was surprised by that answer. “Have you been watching everything that has been happening?”  
The creature paused for another moment before finally answering, “No.”  
“Um,” Roman really wasn’t sure where to go with that kind of answer. “Can I ask if you know why am I here? Why was I chosen to see these weird visions?”  
“You were not chosen,” the creature answered, much to Roman’s dismay. “You are meaningless, just like they are meaningless, just like everything else is meaningless.”  
“Well, that’s just a tad dramatic,” Roman scoffed. When the creature didn’t respond, he tried a different question, “Well, now I’m pretty sure your just another weird creation of my imagination that has run away from me, but I wonder if you know. Where did these visions come from then?”  
“Out of the hole at the centre of everything,” the creature answered. “Goodbye.”  
Roman realized in a sudden panic that he was beginning to float away from the creature. “Wait! I’m not done yet! Wait!”  
“Do not worry,” the creature answered. “Everything will be forgotten one day.” Roman gasped as everything finally turned black around him.


	11. Chapter 11 (Saturday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter trigger warnings: Minor hallucination

RomanoTaco: hey pat, you ok?  
PattyCake: ya lo wsnt to mad  
RomanoTaco: did you tell him?  
PattyCake: most of it  
RomanoTaco: im gonna go w verg 2day  
PattyCake: ok

LBerry: Planets are to be pitied as they cannot know how big and cool they are.

Roman managed to slip out of the house with minimal berating from his mom about getting in so late, which he chalked up to a miracle in and of itself. He couldn’t find Elliott or Dr Picani during his late afternoon wanderings, but he did find Talyn back up on the roofs and the two quickly started making there way to the tracks with some more tin soldiers for Talyn to destroy.  
As they arrived and got into position, Talyn looked over at him and said, “You look horrible. Like you have been through way too many wash cycles, Killer.”  
Roman rolled his eyes, pulling up his legs and waiting for the train to pass before responding, “Look, it’s been a long week.”  
“Yeah, how much sleep did ya get last night?” Talyn challenged.  
Roman furrowed his brow as he tried to remember when exactly he went to bed, “I think it was 14 hours. So, less than usual.”  
Talyn gave some sort of indistinguishable sound of surprise and Roman looked over at them in confusion. “14 hours is less than usual?” Talyn gasped. “Dude, I’m lucky if I hit five.”  
Roman turned his head away before answering, “Look, I don’t rest well when I sleep. I feel more rested the more I get because of my nightmares.”  
Talyn hummed in agreement, “Now, nightmares I can understand. But you really shouldn’t be sleeping for 14 or however many hours you do sleep.”  
Roman didn’t answer, choosing to just lay there as the train passed by. Once it did, he chose to change the subject, “You know what Possum Springs is lacking?”  
“Wifi? Cell service? Any technology post-1980’s? A public pool?”  
“All of those, yes. But I was thinking that what Possum Springs is really lacking is-” Roman paused for dramatic effect, “-a serial killer!”  
Talyn raised a carefully coloured eyebrow at him, “Dude, don’t you count?”  
Roman huffed, “No, not me! A real bonafide killer who, you know, wants to kill people.”  
“Well, you did try to kill someone,” Talyn tried to point out.  
“No, I didn’t,” Roman turned his head away.  
“People think you did.”  
“I wasn’t trying to kill him. It was just a thing that happened,” Roman snapped, his voice trailing off as another train came by. Once it passed, Roman stood up and started to walk away.  
“Wait, where are you going?” Talyn called after him. “Don’t you want to see the monsters?”  
Roman turned back to them with a sad smile, “No thanks. I’m gonna go find my own.” Talyn’s whole face melted into one of confusion and horror. “Be safe, Talyn. Please,” Roman turned and walked away, not entirely surprised when Talyn didn’t come running after him.  
After all, he had given them no reason to.

Roman found Virgil at the Ole’ Pickaxe, giving about a hundred different warnings to his employee, Corbin, about what he would do if he came back and found even one part of the store out of place. Roman was impressed that Corbin’s face managed to stay fairly impassive through the whole exchange, only the slightest inkling of worry etching on his brow. As soon as Roman and Virgil finally left, Virgil lit up a cigarette and said, blowing the smoke into the air, “I hope I didn’t terrify him too bad. He’s a good employee.”  
Roman frowned, “He didn’t look hardly scared to me.”  
Virgil smirked as he unlocked the car, “Oh, he was freaking terrified. Corbin’s just really good at hiding it. Now buckle up, it’s a long drive.”  
“How long?” Roman asked as he shut his door.  
“90 minutes give or take, depending on how many people are out on the road,” Virgil said, snuffing out his cigarette before climbing in himself.  
Virgil was right, it was a long drive. Roman was extremely tired still, so he dozed on and off while Virgil blared loud music from the stereo. It was only when they pulled into a small town that Virgil turned the music down and Roman started to pay attention to the town. “I’ve never been to Gainesville before?”  
Virgil took another puff of the cigarette he was smoking, “Yeah, it is kinda small compared to wherever you went to school, but it has a university. Nice college town. Maybe you should have come here, then you wouldn’t have been so far away.”  
Roman grunted, “Yeah, maybe. Who do you even know here though?”  
“Old friend from high school, you probably don’t know her,” Virgil said as he started to pull into an open spot on the side of the street.  
“Really?” Roman questioned. When Virgil didn’t respond, Roman huffed and turned to look back out the window. He noticed the sign of one of the storefronts, “Hey, look! They have a scouts program here! Remember when we were in that.”  
Virgil hummed as he stepped out of the car, “Yeah, that’s where we met.”  
“Why did you even pick me out of all people to hang out with there?” Roman asked, closing his door behind him.  
“I started hanging with you cause I was new and you seemed smart and fun,” Virgil explained.  
Roman turned to him, “Well, what am I now?”  
“Fun,” Virgil deadpanned.  
“I hate how you keep saying I’m not smart,” Roman huffed, following Virgil who had started walking down the street.  
“Sorry,” Virgil said with a smirk. “I’m mostly kidding.”  
“Mostly?” Roman questioned but didn’t get a chance to continue as Virgil quickly snuffed out his cigarette, returned the other half to his case, and started down a set of stairs. Roman quickly scrambled after him, following him into what seemed to be a basement bar.  
A girl with short brown hair was standing at the bottom of the stairs, peering up with a glass bottle in her hands. As soon as she recognized Virgil, she exclaimed, “Verge! Where have you been? I was beginning to think you wouldn’t make it!”  
Roman peered around Virgil as he said, “Yeah, sorry about that.”  
The girl laughed, “Dude, it’s no issue. But I have a few possible prospects and I didn’t want to let that go to waste. Boy, you reek of cigarette smoke!”  
“This whole place does,” Virgil snarked, shoving his hands into his hoodie pockets.  
“Yeah, but it is wafting off of you. I thought you said you were gonna cut back and try to- who is this?” the girl had finally noticed Roman and was now glaring at him.  
Roman tried for a nice smile, holding out a hand, “Hi, I’m Ro-”  
“Everyone knows who you are, Roman Sanders,” the girl crossed her arms, one long fingernail against her bottle.  
“Oh, um,” Roman pulled his hand back as he struggled to find some way to respond to that.  
“Valerie,” Virgil cautioned. “I brought him. Now, what is the plan?”  
Valerie narrowed her eyes before turning to Virgil, “Dancing first. When the guys I have my eye on come back, then we move in.”  
“Are you sure?” Virgil asked, his voice dropping more and more into his deadpan.  
“Now, Verge, have I ever let you down before?”  
“Well, there was that one debacle with the-”  
“Other than that incident we never speak of,” Valerie cut him off. Virgil sighed then shook his head. “Good, let’s go.”  
“Man, she is intense,” Roman whispered to Virgil as they followed her out to the dance floor.  
“Yeah, well, she is just looking out for me. She was my only friend in high school,” Virgil said. Roman stopped as the reminder hit him, letting Virgil go slightly out in front of him before following once again.  
They weren’t out on the dance floor for very long before Valerie stopped them and pointed back towards the entrance. “I see them. Let’s go,” she grabbed Virgil’s hand and made to pull him towards whomever she had her targets set on, but Virgil dug in his heels quickly.  
He looked back at Roman, “You’ll be okay, right?”  
“Yeah, I’ll come find you when I’m done dancing,” Roman nodded.  
“Okay, no alcohol, remember.” And with that, Virgil was gone, following Valerie through the crowd.  
Roman continued to dance for a while but was beginning to think that he should get a drink when he spotted someone leaning against the wall. He slowly walked over greeting them with a loud hi.  
The mysterious person looked over at him, their piercing blue eyes staring directly at him from under their fluffy blue bangs, “Hey.”  
“Um, do I know you?” Roman asked, vaguely noticing a hint of black ink peeking out from under the person’s scarf.  
“Nope,” the person said, a smile on their face. “What’s your name?”  
“Roman. Roman Sanders,” he introduced himself with a slight bow.  
“Roman,” they repeated. “I like it. Sounds like it could be royalty if your last name was King or Prince.”  
Roman laughed, “Nope. But I could be a witch for all you know. Maybe I have hexed you with my name.”  
The undeniably cute person laughed in response, a dimple appearing in their right cheek, “Well, Roman Sanders. What’s your story?”  
Roman thought for a long moment. He could lie, but this cute girl, boy? Whatever they were, he just didn’t feel like lying to them. “I’m a recent college dropout,” he explained. “I am chasing a ghost or it is chasing me, I’m not really sure. I’ve had these dreams that I’m not sure were dreams, more like jumbled bits of history. I think I met god, but who’s to say. But I’m pretty sure the ghost kidnapped someone. I’m like 90% sure I didn’t imagine that, but my friends aren’t buying it. I came home in order to feel normal again, but that isn’t really working out. But then I came here and I saw you and…” Roman trailed off, looking up at those gorgeous eyes again. Upon realizing they looked extremely worried, he laughed nervously, scratching at the back of his neck, “I just realized I’ve never listed that all out at once before.”  
“Wow,” they breathed out. “I stole your life story.”  
Roman chuckled, ‘Yeah, I guess.”  
“Hey,” the person reached out to grab Roman’s hand. “Watch this,” they placed their own hand on top of Roman’s and then traced a pattern over top with a blue-painted finger.  
Roman instantly felt about ten times calmer. “Wow,” he breathed.  
“Pretty cool, huh?” they smiled, still holding onto Roman’s hand.  
Roman looked back up at those eyes, “Wow.” They chuckled and then they both just stood there for a long moment. Roman finally said, “Um, I’m gonna go let my friend know I’m over here. I told him I would let him know when I was done dancing.”  
“Okay,” they leaned in a little closer. “You do that.” They dropped Roman’s hand, leaning back against the wall.  
Roman took a step back, finding moving very difficult. “I-I’ll be right back,” he managed.  
“I’ll be here.”  
Roman took another two steps back before finally turning and ducking through the crowd, trying to find Virgil and/or Valerie and let them know he was going to be over there talking to that bombshell of a person. He found both of them talking to a couple of more guys. “Hey Verge!” he called out as he walked over to stand next to his friend, eyeing the glass bottle of bright green liquid in his hands.  
“Hey Roman. This is Nate,” Virgil said, waving at one of the guys who merely hummed, scratching at the stubble on his chin.  
“And I’m Sloane,” the other guy said, a smile on his face. “Your friend is pretty cool.”  
“Yeah,” Roman looked up at Virgil, noting how rigid he was standing. “Yeah, he’s pretty alright. Did he tell you I saw a ghost the other day?”  
Roman raised an eyebrow in confusion as Virgil giggled, but Sloane just asked, “Like Memento Mori?”  
“Yeah, yeah, sick transit glorya nerd,” Roman scoffed. When Virgil giggled again, he turned more towards him, “You’re laughing a lot.”  
“So,” Nate spoke up, apparently not having heard Roman’s comment. “Virgil, that’s an old name. Like something you hear in a book.”  
“A book you like?” Virgil suggested.  
Roman looked up at his friend in confusion. This was very weird. Did Virgil always act this way around others when Roman wasn’t around? That couldn’t be right. “I used to read a lot,” he spoke up, trying to redirect the conversation with the first thing that popped into his mind. “My grandad read to me when I was younger. Before he got dementia and died.”  
There was silence for a moment before Nate spoke again, “Sorry about your grandad, dude.”  
“It’s okay, it was years ago,” Roman shrugged. “Virgil’s mom is dead too.”  
Virgil let out another nervous giggle, hissing between his teeth, “Roman, stop.”  
“It’s okay,” Roman turned back towards the boys, purposely avoiding Valerie’s darkening glare. “I’m sure everyone here knows someone who has died.”  
There was silence for a long moment and Roman was starting to worry when Sloane spoke up, “My dog died last spring when my house exploded. There was a gas leak from when my dad hit the line trying to dig up the dog we had before that because we were going to move and my dad said he had to come with us.”  
There was silence for another long moment as everyone stared this time at Sloane. “Wow,” Valerie finally said, breaking everyone’s stares.  
“So, Nate, what are you majoring in?” Virgil asked, trying to get the conversation back to where it was before.  
“Political science,” Nate said, taking a sip from his own bottle, the liquid a murky brown.  
“Oh, that’s cool. Are there a lot of jobs in that?” Virgil asked.  
“Oh, I don’t know,” Nate shrugged. “I just find it really interesting. I think you have to be pretty materialistic to go to college just to get a job afterwards.”  
“That’s interesting because-”  
“Whoa, stop!” Roman cut off Virgil, his voice low. “Check out rich kid over here. Gonna pay zillions of dollars to go to school just cause something ‘is interesting.’ Verge, check this guy out. You ever worked a day in your life, prep?”  
Nate took a step back, frowning, “I interned at my uncle’s law firm, yes.”  
“Well, I bagged groceries,” Roman growled back.  
Virgil laughed lowly before saying, “That is so interesting. Roman, do you want to go dance some more?” Roman looked up at him, but before he could answer, Virgil gave him a subtle push, “You should go dance.”  
“Yeah, my parents own their own business, so,” Nate spoke again and Roman chose to stick around while Virgil was distracted again.  
“Oh, tell me about it,” Virgil asked with genuine interest. “I know a thing or two about running a small business.”  
Nate smiled, “Wanna go across the street and get a pizza?”  
“I could eat,” Virgil said. “And it’s a small business!”  
“You speak their language,” Nate laughed. “You can get us free slices.”  
Roman growled. He was sick and tired of this guy. “Verge doesn’t like spoiled rich kids, Maggie.”  
Valerie cut in, “I would like to go with you guys if you don’t mind.”  
“Sure,” Virgil said with a smile. “The more the merrier.”  
Roman was done with this whole situation. Why was Virgil acting so weird? He was obviously still super tense, but wanting to hang with these spoiled brats more. The lights of the bar were starting to blend together in Roman’s peripheral vision, but he had his sights set in on a certain guy who still stood out clearly from the crowd. “Hey Michael, let me tell you something about Virgil Alighieri. He is super on top of things, super smart, and super responsible. He runs like the biggest store in Possum Springs.”  
“Roman, no,” Virgil whispered.  
Sloane spoke louder, confusion on his face, “What the heck is Possum Springs?”  
“It’s west, in the mountains,” Nate explained.  
Roman just kept going, his eyes flashing, making the red more obvious, “While rich kid over here is studying politicians or whatever, Virgil’s out in the real world. Not like you college kids.”  
“Roman!” Valerie gasped, her hand clenched so tight that if her bottle was plastic, she surely would have crushed it.  
“What?” Nate looked over at Virgil in confusion, while Virgil just stared down at the ground, nervously giggling to himself.  
“I’m kinda over the whole college thing myself. Virgil and I basically run Possum Springs except there’s like a ghost or something,” Roman continued.  
“You two live in Possum Springs?” Sloane questioned.  
“Yeah, got a problem with that?” Roman snapped back.  
“Wow,” Nate whistled. “You drove all the way here from Deep Hollow County? Isn’t that like two hours away?”  
“No, I…” Virgil trailed off, trying to hide the shaking of his hands.  
Nate barked out a laugh, elbowing a confused-looking Sloane, “These two drove all the way from Deep Hollow! That’s rich!”  
“But, aren’t you like a student?” Sloane asked, confused.  
“Yeah, well, you see, I’m,” Virgil stammered. Suddenly his bottle fell out of his hand, crashing to the floor, spreading sticky soda everywhere. He put one hand up to his mouth and turned and ran, disappearing up the nearby stairs.  
“Wait! Virgil!” Valerie quickly took off after him.  
“What was that about?” Roman heard Sloane ask behind him.  
“I don’t think he’s a student here,” Nate sighed and a sloosh followed.  
“So?” Sloane still sounded utterly lost.  
Roman turned to give them a warning growl before running after Virgil. At the top of the stairs, he found Valerie across the street, calling for Virgil. Valerie spotted Roman running across the street and ran to meet him, her eyes dangerously dark. “What the hell was that?” she screamed.  
“I was going to ask the same thing!” Roman yelled back.  
“How in the world did you mess that up! He needs this! And now he’s who knows where! I swear, if anything has happened to him, I will personally end you,” she snapped.  
“Okay, geez!” Roman held up his hands in surrender.  
“Okay,” Valerie took a deep breath. “I’m going to go up the street, you go down to the docks. We find him, make sure he is safe, and meet back here. Got it?”  
“Got it,” Roman agreed and the two split, intent on finding their mutual friend. Roman ran down the side of the street, scanning everyone around him through the mist, trying to just spot his friend. Finally, he spies the docks up ahead with a silhouetted figure sitting at the end of one. He makes almost completely there before finally collapsing a few feet away. The figure turned around, Virgil’s dark brown eyes looking at him with contempt. Roman just gasped for air, “Sorry, I just ran all the way here. And it wasn’t even that far. I’m just really out of shape.” Virgil huffed and turned back to the river. He didn’t speak until Roman finally could breathe again and asked, “What happened back there?”  
“What happened?” Virgil snapped. “You ruined that chance I had! A chance at feeling normal for once in my shitty life! I don’t know if you could even realize how bad it is. My entire life ended the day my mom died. Now I have to take care of what is left of my family and every single day what little chance of a future outside of Possum Springs I have left slips away. You gave up the very thing I want so bad and I can’t help but hate you for it!” Virgil’s voice cracked finally as he lowered his head into his shaking hands.  
Roman pushed himself back up into a sitting position staring down at his own hands, eyes on a scar running along his left thumb. He muttered, “You don’t know anything about it.”  
Virgil’s head snapped back towards him, his face faintly flushed red under his foundation, “What is there to know?”  
Roman growled back, “You judge me, but did you ever ask why I left?”  
“Yeah. Your first day back.”  
“Oh,” Roman deflated, the little bit of righteous anger left leaving as his whole body sagged. “Right.”  
There was silence for a moment, as Virgil looked back out at the river. “So,” Virgil finally asked. “Why did you leave?”  
Roman blinked, staring at the strangely shaped boats across the river, “I… I don’t know. My head is in pieces right now. Any answer would sound nuts.”  
“Oh, well that’s illuminating,” Virgil deadpanned with a roll of his eyes. At this point, only his hands still shaking betrayed that he wasn’t totally emotionless.  
“Shut up,” Roman growled. “All this stuff going on all week? Ghosts and shit? I met this god thing for crying out loud. And look, we’re both trapped. But we’re trapped together. And I’m sorry.”  
Virgil looked back at him in surprise, “I don’t think you’ve ever apologized to me for anything.”  
“Well,” Roman shrugged. “I guess I’m full of surprises.” After another long moment, he asked, “Would we be friends if he weren’t stuck together?”  
Virgil sighed before admitting, “I don’t know.” After another long moment, Virgil groaned again before lowering his head back into his hands, “My life is so embarrassing. Why did I even come here? I almost didn’t. If you hadn’t said yes, I would have cancelled on Valerie.”  
“Hey,” Roman scooted closer so he was sitting next to his friend. “You are genuinely one of the strongest people I know. It takes a lot of bravery to try and change the entire course of one’s life.”  
Virgil snorted, his smile more genuine then any other he had given that night, “And I guess you aren’t as big of an idiot as I say. And you’re a genuinely good person.”  
Roman smiled, turning to look back over at the misty river, “I’ll take it. And tonight was a complete loss. I met a cute… someone.”  
“Really?” Virgil looked over at Roman with a cocked eyebrow. “What’s their name?”  
Roman opened his mouth to answer, but stopped, his eyes wide, “I-I don’t know. I didn’t even get their contact information. Virgil, we have to come back sometime!”  
He reached over, grabbing Virgil’s sleeve and shaking it with wide eyes while Virgil just laughed. “Okay, okay, we’ll come back,” he said as he pushed himself to his feet, holding out one still-shaking hand to help Roman to his feet as well. “We should make good time going home, it is such a clear night.” Roman looked back at the misty night behind them in confusion, before turning and chasing after Virgil.


	12. Day 12 (Sunday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter trigger warnings: weirdly prophetic grandma, ghost hunting in a graveyard, brief talk about sex, embarrassing prom memories involving blood and vomit and choking(no sex though)

Roman was slightly surprised when he woke up the next morning and there were no strange nightmares haunting his waking moments. It didn’t mean he wasn’t still tired, but he was able to get himself up and out of the house in a decent amount of time. Once he was outside, however, he wasn’t too sure where he was going. Which led to him just wandering through town. Passing the video store, he glanced inside to see Logan standing behind the counter, sorting something. Roman lifted a hand in greeting, but Logan glared back with such intensity that Roman scuttled away for fear of being disintegrated just with a look. “That was weird,” he muttered to himself, still looking back towards the store. This meant that Roman wasn’t watching where he was going and was completely oblivious to running directly into a small punk he knew.  
“Hey!” they shouted, from where they had been knocked down to the ground.  
“Oh my! I’m so sorry!” Roman helped Talyn back to their feet.  
“It’s fine,” Talyn said, rubbing at their head. “Um, what are you doing today? You didn’t look good yesterday and you look even worse today.”  
“I do?” Roman hummed.  
“Um,” Talyn leaned forward again. “Where are you going?”  
Roman looked up in confusion, barely meeting their eyes. “I’m going out. I’ll see you later,” he started to walk off leaving Talyn staring after him. Eventually, he reached the Food Donkey and sat down in front of the store, ignoring a couple of loud bangs from behind him in the abandoned store. Sometime later, a shadow fell over him and Roman looked up at the person in the orange beanie standing over him.  
“Hey,” Joan said. “Do you wanna come to my house? I have a trampoline.”  
Roman smiled, “Sure.” He followed his friend into the woods as they walked along a gravel road and then turned up a long driveway. “This is so weird.”  
“Why is that?” Joan asked, stopping by a tire swing.  
Roman shrugged, “I don’t know. I just never pictured you coming from somewhere. I just thought you like appeared in a parking lot one day.  
“Oh,” Joan hummed in thought.  
“Sorry,” Roman rubbed at the back of his neck. “That was weird.”  
“No, it’s cool. Folks from town don’t come out here very often,” Joan said.  
Roman looked back down the driveway, commenting, “You have a lot of cars.”  
“My uncles visit a lot,” Joan shrugged. “They fix cars with my dad.”  
“Do you drive?” Roman asked.  
“I bike. It’s better for the environment.”  
“I just keep finding out stuff about you.”  
“What!” Joan said in defence. “We’re all going to die from temperatures and the sea rising!”  
Roman sighed, poking at the tire swing next to them, “Is this yours?”  
Joan tilted his head, “No, it’s my sisters and my cousins.”  
“Wow,” Roman gasped in shock. “You have sisters?”  
“Yeah, they are at church stuff right now. That’s why I invited you over,” Joan explained. “It’s adult night around here!”  
“Adult night?” Roman questioned.  
“Yup, the one night a week that there isn’t a bunch of kids running all around this place,” Joan started back up towards the house. The two climbed up the stairs to the porch and Joan turned to him and said, “Okay, you should meet my mom?”  
“Should I?” Roman questioned.  
“It’s polite since you’re eating dinner here,” Joan explained.  
There was silence for a moment before Roman said, “I was kidding.”  
Joan shrugged, “I couldn’t tell!” The two entered the small house. “Take off your shoes,” Joan said. They stepped directly into a kitchen where a woman was standing, stirring something in a pan. “Hey, Mom! This is Roman. He’s eating dinner with us.”  
“Hi,” Roman gave an awkward wave.  
The woman turned to look at them, “Hello Roman. I hope you like sloppy joes.”  
“Who doesn’t?” Roman asked.  
The woman scoffed, “Nobody in this household.”  
“I thought you two should meet before dinner!” Joan said a smile on their face.  
“Hmmm, well that’s very thoughtful of you Joan,” their mom turned back to the stove, stirring the pan.  
“Okay, I’m going to take Roman to meet Gramma,” they continued.  
Their mom turned back with a raised eyebrow, “Oh, is that what this is about?”  
“What?” Roman looked between the two, slightly confused.  
“Can I?” Joan asked.  
Their mom shrugged, “Don’t need my permission. Whatever happens is on you.”  
“What?” Roman was now even more confused by the situation.  
“Come on!” Joan grabbed Roman’s wrist and dragged him out of the kitchen and into a small living room, their mom calling out a good luck after the two. In the living room, an old lady sat in a rocking chair staring out the window.  
The two stood awkwardly in front of the lady as she slowly turned her head towards the two. After another long moment, she finally spoke, “Sturdy boy.”  
“Um, my grandad said that,” Roman shuffled, not really knowing how to react to this woman’s long stare. “Did you…” He trailed off, not sure what to say next.  
“This is my gramma,” Joan said. Roman continued to stare at the strange lady who narrowed her eyes back. “Okay, well, see ya!”  
“Wait, what?” Roman gasped, looking at Joan who just flat-out walked out of the room. As soon as Joan disappeared around the corner, Roman turned back to their gramma, “You’re staring at me.”  
Joan’s Gramma huffed before continuing, “Sturdy is a good word for you. Stout. Big bones.”  
“Um, yup,” Roman looked around the dark living room. “So, is that it?”  
“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I upset you?” Gramma asked, one eyebrow rising ever-so-slightly.  
“No.”  
“Too bad. You need to be upset.” Roman’s eyes widened and he took a step back as Gramma leaned further back into her chair before continuing, “What’s coming to you, little boy, is three times the trouble you deserve. You are going to go down hard not far from here. You will go down in these woods.”  
“Are you like telling my fortune?” Roman questioned.  
The lady just stared at him, blinking, “Little boy, I don’t know what you did, but you’ve got a dark spot in you that one day is gonna take a life. Might be someone else’s. Or it might be yours. Mark my words, you’re doomed.”  
Roman took another step back, almost back out of the living room, “Okay, I’ll, uh, try to remember that. Wait.” Roman shook his head, coming back to his senses, “What are you trying to say? You don’t even know me. Whatever it is that’s wrong with me? Yeah, I’m not just a shell for my problems to walk around in. ‘Uuuh uuuh you got a dark spot on you.’ What the actual hell do you know about me anyway?”  
Gramma nodded, a solemn look on her face. “I can’t stop what’s coming,” she said. “But ask you a question you can’t answer, ‘Can you unhaunt a haunted house?’”  
“I-I- what?” Roman stumbled, thoroughly confused.  
Gramma stared at him for another second before a grin broke out on her face. “Had you going there for a second,” she chuckled.  
“What?” Roman asked.  
“I was just joshin ya,” Gramma’s chuckles were beginning to die down. “I have to have my fun somehow.”  
“What is wrong with you?” Roman demanded, stomping forward. “That was seriously messed up!”  
Gramma just continued to chuckle, this time at Roman’s anger, “You’re a good sport. You go outside now, dear! Let Gramma watch Judge Janice.” She picked up a remote next to her flicking on an ancient box TV just to Roman’s right.  
“Um, okay, I guess I’ll see you around,” Roman said, backing up away from the TV.  
Gramma gave him one more creepy smile, “Not likely, little boy.”  
Roman turned and walked out of the living room, not especially eager to engage with the strange old lady again. Roman managed to find Joan out on the edge of the raised porch. Joan turned to him and merely said, “Don’t tell me what Gramma said.”  
“Why?” Roman asked, still slightly shaken and really wanting to share what happened in that living room with someone.  
“When Gramma tells you something for you, it’s yours and if you give it away, it’s gone,” Joan explained.  
“What does that mean?” Roman demanded.  
Joan just gave him their own creepy grin and stood up. “Watch this!” they said before jumping off the edge of the porch. A second later, they was flying back up, shouting, “Come on!”  
Roman looked over the edge to see that Joan was jumping on a trampoline, “Holy crap!” He took a few steps back and jumped off the edge to join Joan. The two bounced like that for quite some time, the joy of just jumping up and down, clearing Roman’s mind and making him feel freer then he had in a while.  
After the two jumped for a while and had decided to take a break, legs dangling over the edge of the porch, Roman heard a voice behind them, “Hey, I know you! You’re Larry Sanders kid!”  
Roman turned to see two men standing behind both of them, each holding a beer can, “Um, yeah?”  
“These are two of my uncles,” Joan waved behind them, not even bothering to turn around, staring out into the trees.  
“We used to see your dad out at Miller’s Bar a lot. We see him a lot less now though. Probably a good thing, huh?” the uncle asked.  
“Yeah…” Roman said, a little miffed by the blunt tone of this guy.  
“He didn’t mean nothing by it,” the other guy stepped in.  
Roman shook his head, “It’s cool.”  
“Your dad is up at Ham Panther now, right? They’re pretty anti-union, huh?” the first uncle asked.  
“Yeah, he’s mentioned that,” Roman answered.  
“Your dad is pretty alright though, kid,” the second uncle said. “You tell him that Ham Panther management can go straight to hell!”  
“Oh, okay? That’s weird,” Roman raised an eyebrow, slightly confused by these two.  
“Nothing weird about it,” the first uncle huffed, before turning his gaze to Joan. “Hey Joan, are we going out to Hunwick this weekend still?”  
“Yup!” Joan finally turned around a smile on their face.  
“Uh, what’s in Hunwick?” Roman asked.  
“Old computer show!” Both the first uncle and Joan shouted before the uncle continued, “Gonna look for an old Compton-80.”  
“Play some Wanderers of Klorgen!” Joan added.  
“Bunch of dweebs over here!” the second uncle said with a laugh before taking another sip of his drink.  
“Dinner!” a voice shouted from the door. Joan got to their feet and helped Roman up and the two followed Joan’s uncles into the house.  
After a delicious dinner of sloppy joes where Roman just watched the quite impressive amount of adults chow down and just chat, Roman found himself and Joan back out on the raised porch. “That was delicious,” Roman said with a content hum.  
Joan laughed, “Glad you liked sloppy joes.”  
“Who doesn’t?” Joan laughed again and turned to stare out into the forest with Roman. After another quiet moment, Roman said, “This is kinda weird to ask, but why did you invite me up here? Has Patton even been up here?”  
“Nah,” Joan said, shaking their head. “Patton’s cool but like Patton’s got things pretty much figured out.”  
“Yeah, Patton’s the best,” Roman admitted with a smile.  
“But it seems like you’ve been having a really effing hard time lately and I thought you’d like to just chill out for a bit. Everybody else is like going somewhere or wishes they were, but you’re just not,” Joan explained. “I dunno.”  
“Yeah,” Roman pulled his legs up to his chest, looking down at his horribly scuffed tennis shoes. “Thanks for dinner.”  
“Thank my mom.”  
“No just,” Roman sighed, trying to think. “Thanks. I’ve had a really long fall.”  
“I know,” Joan gave him another smile. “Glad you like sloppy joes.”  
Roman laughed, “Who doesn’t?”

Shortly after that, Roman said his goodbyes to Joan and made his way back down into town. Patton wasn’t at the Snack Falcon and Roman really didn’t want to try his apartment. Not after the way Logan was glaring daggers at him earlier. So, Roman merely moved on towards the Ole’ Pickaxe where Virgil was sitting behind the counter, scribbling down numbers on slips of paper. Virgil looked up at him and the pencil fell from his fingers, “Whoa!”  
“What?” Roman asked, hopping up on the counter by Virgil.  
“Are you okay?” Virgil leaned forward to get a better look at Roman.  
“I’m fine,” Roman pushed Virgil’s face away. “Just tired. I’ve had this headache for days and it keeps getting worse.”  
“Shouldn’t you like go home and rest?” Virgil asked. “I feel like you’d be able to pass out pretty well.”  
Roman wearily looked over at him, “Nah, I’m fine. I’ve been doing nothing but sleeping and dreaming. Seeing so much weird things and ghosts at night. Doing real stuff helps.”  
Virgil hummed in response, “How are you feeling about the whole ghost thing?”  
“Bad,” Roman sighed. “I mean, since it happened I’m sleeping all the time, I feel like there is someone else in my head, and I feel like my skull is about to explode.”  
“So, not good,” Virgil said, clearing the counter of the scraps of paper, dropping them into the register. “You still up for checking out the graveyard? It’s close enough to closing time, I can shut up and we can go.”  
“Let’s do it.” Roman helped Virgil shut down the store, pretty close to being a pro at it by this time. They didn’t speak again until they arrived at the graveyard, right at dusk. The two walked in, Roman leading the way with Virgil lighting a cigarette behind him. “Foggy,” Roman commented.  
“Always got that evening fall fog,” Virgil responded after a long drag. “Collects between the ridges of this place.”  
“It’s spooky.”  
“A good spooky. I get really sad because it’s not here year-round,” Virgil looked around. “So are we just going to wait here for the ghost to show up or?”  
There was a moment of silence before Roman defended himself, “This isn’t dumb!”  
“Hey,” Virgil held up his hands in surrender, holding the cigarette in one. “I never said it was. I’m just along for the ride.”  
Roman huffed, kicking at some of the fallen leaves. “Know any ghost stories?” he finally asked.  
“Not off the top of my head,” Virgil admitted.  
“Okay, then what scares you?” Roman asked.  
“Uh, that things are like monumentally screwed right now,” Virgil said. “And no one in power gives a shit or they’re actively making it worse out of spite or profit.”  
“Whoa! Geez!” Roman cut him off. “I meant like a skeleton or something. Not the entire weight of the world.”  
“Right,” Virgil snuffed out his cigarette. “Sorry.”  
“Okay, let’s practice. I’ll say something and you make it spookier. A good ole’ spook-off,” Roman said with a smile. “How about a skeleton outside your window?”  
“A regular stranger person outside your window,” Virgil responded, pulling his pack of cigarettes out.  
“He’s smiling-”  
“-And he’s from the bank.”  
“Oh come on!”  
Virgil lit another cigarette before adding, “He’s here to tell you that they are taking your house.”  
“This is just depressing,” Roman moaned.  
Virgil thought for a moment before adding, “And he’s a zombie.”  
“Okay that works,” Roman approved. “Zombie bank guy. Geez, all the things you’re scared of are so boring!”  
“The scariest stuff in this world are really, really boring,” Virgil monotoned.  
“Oh my gosh, Verge!” Roman moaned. “Why are you like this?”  
Virgil rolled his eyes before saying, “Okay, I’m gonna go visit my mom. Give me a minute or two, okay?”  
Roman nodded, “Of course!” He watched Virgil walk down the hill they were by before turning towards the other graves, wandering through and reading names. After about the tenth grave, Roman wandered back over to the hill to where he split from Virgil, who was standing there, looking off through the fog at some sort of statue. “Hey, how’d it go?”  
Virgil looked over at him, a hint of sadness clear in his dark eyes, “Fine. She’s still there.”  
Roman stopped, “Were you worried about that?”  
“You know how we’ve been having sinkhole problems since forever? Well, they’ve gotten worse over the last three years. And my mom is buried in a pretty low spot. Couldn’t afford the hill, so I was worried,” Virgil explained.  
“Like, your worried the ground is just going to cave-in?” Roman asked.  
Virgil growled, “What part of sinkhole is difficult to understand?”  
“We’re in a graveyard!” Roman exclaimed. “They shouldn’t make these where sinkholes are a problem!”  
“Yeah, and they shouldn’t build towns where it floods, but here we are!” Virgil sighed. “You know, when I was down there, I heard music from the top of the hill. Voices too.”  
“Oh? Oh!” Roman did a quick jump. “We should totally go check it out!”  
“Fine, whatever,” Virgil followed Roman down the incline and towards the tall hill that loomed over the rest of the strangely designed graveyard. At the top, there was an iron gate with three figures in cloaks sitting around it.  
“Ho, weary travellers,” the first figure said.  
“You seek answers among the dead,” said the second figure.  
“But they shall give you none,” said the third figure.  
“Who the hell are you guys?” Virgil asked.  
“Messengers.”  
“Observers.”  
“Meddlers.”  
“Teens,” Roman sighed. “They’re weird teens.”  
“We are the keepers of the gate,” the first figure said after a pause.  
“That is a literal gate,” Virgil monotoned.  
“We govern who shall pass,” the second figure added.  
“And who shall remain,” said the third figure.  
“Answer these questions.”  
“Truthfully.”  
“And you may pass into the realm of the dead.”  
“What?”  
Roman held up a friend in front of Virgil to cut him off, “Ok, ok, fine. We’ll play your game.”  
“Whatever,” Virgil huffed, crossing his arms in impatience.  
“First question!” the first figure yelled. “Have you ever done it?”  
Roman groaned, “You can just call it sex, you know. We are all adults here.”  
Virgil snorted, “Well, ‘we’ are.”  
“Answer!” the first figure yelled.  
“No,” Roman quickly answered.  
Virgil raised an eyebrow, “Really?  
Roman shrugged, “Just haven’t met the right person.”  
“I would have thought you and Toby would have done it. Everyone was so sure about it,” Virgil mused.  
“Well, we didn’t,” Roman snapped back. “Your turn.”  
“Yes,” Virgil answered without breaking eye contact with Roman.  
“What? When?” Roman asked, very shocked.  
Virgil shrugged, “Summer before 11th grade.”  
“How did I not know about this?”  
“This was when you weren’t talking to me.”  
“Oh, sorry. Who was this with?”  
Virgil just shook his head, “You wouldn’t know him. It was at math camp.  
“What is math camp?”  
“What is math camp?” the figure repeated Roman’s question, sounding just as confused.  
“Just a camp where you go and do math stuff and camp stuff,” Virgil explained.  
“And apparently lots of sex?” Roman continued, still staring at his friend in shock.  
Virgil shrugged, “The sex wasn’t very good. Top notch math though.”  
The first figure groaned, “This is so boring!!!”  
“Next question!” the third figure yelled.  
“Okay, geez!” Virgil held up his hands in surrender. “So bossy.”  
“Describe your dream date.”  
“These are actually the worst questions.”  
“Yeah,” Roman agreed. “You are sitting in a graveyard, wearing these stupid cloaks, at dusk, playing ’gatekeeper.’ Don’t you want to ask anything spooky? Or at least a little more creative?”  
“Dream date!” the second figure screamed.  
“Okay, fine,” Virgil sighed. “He’d be tall, dress cool, really smart, likes good music. And we’d go to the movies-”  
“Boring,” the third figure cut him off. “You?”  
“Wrestling.”  
Virgil looked over at Roman in slight shock, “Like you’re gonna wrestle or you’re gonna like watch wrestling?”  
“We would wrestle,” Roman answered. “They would have to be like grrrr though. I don’t even want to date someone who’s not grrrr.”  
“So you’re gonna wrestle this person?” Virgil asked.  
“Yeah,” Roman nodded. “They’d be super tough and cool and we’d be all dirty and tired and bleeding and then we’d lay on the floor and tell each other secrets.”  
Virgil smiled, “That’s actually really sweet.”  
“I guess,” mumbled the third figure.  
“What do you want from me?” Roman raised an eyebrow up at the figure.  
“Next question!” shouted the second figure. “What is your most embarrassing experience?”  
“What?”  
“Answer!”  
“One time I farted in front of the class,” Virgil admitted.  
Roman started laughing while the figure just looked disappointed, “Okay, that sucked. Now you!”  
“Oh, uh, oh no,” Roman blanched slightly as he remembered. “This one time in high school, I went to the prom with this guy Toby-”  
“Oh, I’ve been waiting for this story for years,” Virgil whispered.  
“-And it was awkward and I had to wear a tux and I can’t slow-dance. He was really nice and stuff I guess and I tried to kiss him, but, somehow, I screwed it up and drew blood?”  
“You bit him?” the figure gasped.  
“How badly did you mess up this kiss?” Virgil asked, a cocky smile on his face.  
“I have no idea!” Roman defended. “But he was bleeding a lot, so I like rushed him to the bathroom to get paper towels. So I’m shoving these paper towels into his mouth and I overdo it and he starts choking and like fighting back and I’m like chowing down on candy almonds-”  
“Wait, from where?” Virgil asked, thoroughly confused.  
“I stole them from the tables and shoved them in my jacket. Turned out tux jackets have secret inner pockets. Like dozens of them,” Roman explained. “Anyway, so I’m like ploughing through these almonds and one gets caught in my throat. Poor Toby has like slumped against the bathroom wall by this point, so I try to give myself the Heimlich manoeuvre and it works, but I puke all over Toby. Chicken cordon bleu.”  
“This is amazing,” the second figure whispered.  
“Right then, someone walks in and sees Toby dazed and bleeding and choking and me puking into the sink. So I pull all the paper towels out of Toby’s mouth and, for some reason, I think to flush them down the toilet and that makes it overflow. So I grabbed Toby and pulled him out of the bathroom, both of us covered in puke and blood and toilet water and he ran away and left. And he was my ride,” Roman finished.  
There was silence for a moment before Virgil spoke up again, “How did you get home?”  
“That kid, Kenny, who rode his tractor to prom,” Roman explained before continuing the apparently incomplete story. “So we’re slowly driving to my house, cars slowing down and honking, while I’m on the back, crying my eyes out.”  
There was another moment of silence before the figure whispered again, “That’s seriously messed up.”  
“Ro, I- I-” Virgil trailed off.  
“I have nightmares about it like once a week,” Roman laughed.  
“I’m gonna have nightmares about it.”  
Virgil looked up at the figure, “Can we pass now?”  
“Well, of course,” the second figure said.  
“You have come face-to-face with your lowest moment. You may pass unburdened,” the third figure said. The gate swung open before the two.  
Roman dug a flashlight out of his pocket, flicking it on as the last of the sunlight faded. He looked up at where the teens had been sitting, only to see that no one was there. Virgil was already moving forward to pass through the gate. Roman scrambled after him.  
Virgil stopped when they both reached the bottom of the hill and looked over at Roman, “So like ghosts.”  
Roman looked back over at his friend with a raised eyebrow, “Ghosts?”  
“Like I don’t know if I believe in them but,” Virgil trailed off. A quick nod from Roman prompted him to continue, “So you know how you said that you’ve been seeing ghosts at night? I mean I don’t super believe it’s not just dreams. Because obviously, it’s dreams.”  
“Obviously.”  
“But like, did you ever see my mom?” Virgil asked.  
“No,” Roman admitted. “I mean, I can’t really tell. But I don’t think the ghosts were actual people? Like they’re not sitting around being ghosts. It’s more like echoes? Echoes of shit that happened and people that were here.” Virgil huffed, looking disappointed. Roman quickly tried to reassure him, “Trust me, none of the places looked like super much fun. Your mom was rad as hell. Too rad to hang out there.”  
Virgil looked up at him, eyes wide, before snorting, a slight smile on his face, “Haha, that’s like… I appreciate you trying to turn this around.”  
Roman shrugged, “I’m doing my best, Virgil.”  
Virgil smiled, looking ahead of them. “So, the bad news is that we are locked out by that giant-ass gate.”  
Roman looked over at the large gate shutting off the old part of the graveyard, “Seriously? Who puts a giant gate in the middle of a graveyard?”  
Virgil snorted, “To keep folks like you out?”  
“Rude,” Roman huffed.  
“And stop whatever you are about to do,” Virgil narrowed his eyes at Roman. Roman gave him an innocent smile and took off, scrambling to the top of the gate before Virgil could catch him. “Good job, idiot!” he called up. “How do you expect to get down now?” Roman just grabbed the branch above the gate, hauling himself up onto it, and started bouncing up and down. Virgil’s eyes widened, “Roman! You stupid prince! Stop! The branch is going to break and you're going to fa-”  
A loud snap and large crash was heard. When the dust cleared, Roman was laying on top of the now-broken gate, moaning in pain. The branch lay under him, shattered to pieces. Virgil jumped forward, kneeling beside his friend, “You idiot! Are you okay?”  
Roman sat up slowly with Virgil’s help, rubbing at the back of his head, “Yeah, I think so.”  
“Good,” Virgil smacked him in the back of the head. “What the effing hell were you thinking?”  
Roman just pushed himself to his feet, “The gate’s open. Let’s find the grave before someone comes investigating.”  
Virgil’s eyes widened and he turned to look around before following Roman who had started trudging forward. Eventually, they did find it, the grave simply marked ‘Little Joe’ with a pair of pickaxes above it. “Now what?” Virgil asked.  
“Ugh!” Roman suddenly screamed. “Why is this whole business never easy? This is stupid. This ghost, this graveyard, those stupid teens, me, and especially this stupid gravestone.” He suddenly leapt forward, landing on top of the gravestone and started jumping.  
“Roman!” Virgil gasped in shock. “What the hell are you doing?”  
“Oh, what’s he going to do?” Roman snapped. “Reach his stupid boney hand out of the grave and grab me and drag me under? Not going to! Because! He’s! A! Freaking! Coward!” Roman screeched as the whole world suddenly tilted around him and he heard Virgil shriek in terror beside him.  
Suddenly, everything settled again and Roman lay blinking in the dirt, Virgil shouting behind him, “You idiot! Didn’t I warn you that this whole graveyard is littered with sinkholes? What were you thinking?”  
Roman blinked wearily, looking up at him, “I wasn’t.”  
“You weren’t. Of course you- oh my gosh!” Virgil took a step back, looking at something on the other side of Roman. Roman looked over to see the end of an old wooden coffin was poking out of the dirt. “You disturbed this grave, Roman. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh.”  
“Oh calm down, Panic at the Everywhere,” Roman snapped. “It’s fine. I’m gonna open it.”  
“You’re what? No! No, you are not going to open it!” Virgil yelled but made no move towards Roman to stop him, terrified of what might happen. Roman reached for the edge of the coffin, prying the lid open, and screamed as a skull fell out, leading Virgil to scream before even seeing why. “Why did you scream?” Virgil demanded after calming himself slightly.  
“There was a skull!” Roman yelled back.  
“It is a coffin! What did you expect? A bouquet of fresh flowers!”  
Roman huffed, turning away. Suddenly, Roman heard another terrified gasp behind him. “What?” he asked, turning to see Virgil had actually turned paler than his foundation.  
“I- I,” Virgil turned his eyes down towards Roman, who was still kneeling next to the skull, covered in dirt. “I thought I saw someone, but then they disappeared,” he whispered.  
“Can we run?” Roman asked, his voice quiet.  
“I never thought you’d ask,” Virgil whispered back as Roman slowly got to his feet. “On the count of three. One… Two… Three!” The two took off running. Right before they got to the destroyed gate, Roman glanced back to see the figure in the long cloak standing in front of Little Joe’s grave, staring at him. Then it turned and flew off, disappearing between the trees. Roman turned forward and hoofed it to catch up to Virgil.  
The two didn’t stop until they reached the front gate. They stood there for a long moment, catching their breath, before Roman hoarsely whispered, “I think I saw the ghost too.”  
“No,” Virgil shook his head adamantly. “It wasn’t a ghost.”  
Roman looked up at him in surprise, “But it was him?”  
Virgil turned back with a sudden glare, “How do you even know the ghost was a dude?”  
Roman growled, “Okay, fine! But it was him! I saw him while we were running!”  
Virgil started shaking his head again, “No, no, no. It was probably just the groundskeeper. You’ve got me all spooked with horrible prom stories, breaking gates, and jumping on gravestones! The groundskeeper was probably just coming to investigate that horrible crash when you did break the gate. We should probably get out of here before he comes back and demands we pay for damages.”  
“No, no, no!” Roman screeched back. “Why does no one-” Roman suddenly gasped as everything around him began to swirl and he vaguely could feel himself dropping. Virgil, swirled with the purples of his hair and the haunted trees of the forest, ran forward to catch him. Or someone. No, it was him. Roman came back to with a horrible pain in his head.  
“-okay?” Virgil seemed to be saying.  
Roman slowly blinking up at him. “My head hurts,” he moaned, closing his eyes again, burying his face into Virgil’s hoodie.  
“Okay,” Virgil whispered. “Let’s get you home.”


	13. Chapter 13 (Monday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter trigger warnings: fighting boyfriends, spiraling mental state, mention of violent animal deaths

Roman skittered past the video store that evening, not even glancing inside for fear of catching another one of Logan’s death glares. He wasn’t quite sure what he did to warrant Logan’s anger, but if there was one thing that Roman was good at, it was avoiding people who were mad at him. He had been doing it for years already with various family members. He made his way out to the Food Donkey’s parking lot, intent on finding Joan. He stopped in shock, however, upon seeing them standing with a strange dude just chatting. Roman took a deep breath and started off again, calling out a hello as soon as he got close enough.  
“Hey!” Joan called back.  
Roman turned to the stranger, forcing a smile on his face, “I don’t believe we have met.”  
They held out their hand, “Name is Bob. Nice to meet you.”  
“Roman. Are you passing through?” Roman asked.  
Bob laughed, “Yup. Just a lowly train-hopper. But everyone knows that stopping in Possum Springs gets you a free sandwich from either Joan here or the local church if he’s not around.”  
Joan snorted while Roman smiled, but quickly said, “Bob, can I ask you a question?”  
“Sure?” he shrugged.  
“I think a friend of mine decided to train-hop, but we haven’t heard from him in months. June actually. His name is Remy Caste. Kinda looked like me with black hair and always wore sunglasses back then,” Roman said. “Have you seen him around?”  
Bob hummed, scratching at his neck fuzz as he thought, “I can’t say that I have, Shorty. But I’ll put the word out and ask around.”  
Roman sighed, relieved yet even more worried at that thought, “Thanks.”  
Bob turned as the faint sound of a train filled the air. “I gotta head out again. Thanks for having me, Joan,” he waved as he headed off.  
“Bye!” Joan waved back. They turned to Roman, an almost pitying look on their face, “You look like hell.”  
Roman chuckled, “Do I? Apparently, I can’t tell anymore.”  
Joan just turned back to where Bob had already disappeared, “He’ll find Remy. If Remy is out there, Bob will put out a word with the good crew. They’ll find him.”  
“Gosh, I hope so,” Roman sighed. “I’m gonna try and find Patton. It’s been a few days since I’ve seen him. At least, I think it has been.”  
Joan turned back, this time with a raised eyebrow, “Do you really think that is the best idea? You look like all you really need is some sleep.”  
Roman was silent for a long moment before asking without even meeting Joan in the eyes, “Do you believe in ghosts?”  
“No,” Joan answered immediately.  
Roman looked up in shock, “Why?”  
This time, it was Joan that stared off, “Because if they were real, my brother would have visited.”  
Roman ducked his head back down, “See you later, Joan.”  
Joan didn’t answer, so Roman took his leave, wandering back towards town. He trudged back into town, wandering into the Snack Falcon. “Hi! Hi! Hi!” Patton all but screeched from behind the counter. How are you doing, buddy?”  
Roman did his best to conjure up a smile for his dear friend, “I think I’m doing okay.”  
Patton frowned at that, snapping his fingers as he thought of something, “Hey! Do you wanna go to the Donut Wolf tonight?”  
Roman raised an eyebrow, “All the way out in Ft. Leonard-Wood? How do you expect us to get there?”  
“Why with Virgil’s car of course!” Patton’s smile widened into a large grin. “Lo and I were already planning on going out and we already have permission to borrow his car. Lo is a very good driver despite not having his own car.”  
“I mean, I don’t want to intrud-”  
“Nope! You’re going!” Patton cut him off, hopping over the counter as a familiar car pulled up in front of the building. Patton grabbed him by the wrist, dragging Roman outside with an insistent, “Come on!”  
Logan didn’t say a word until Roman had scrambled into the backseat and Patton settled into the front seat, both wearing seatbelts. “Why is he here?” he asked, his voice low and cold.  
“I invited him,” Patton said, his smile turning slightly frosty. “Gotta problem with that?”  
Logan didn’t even bother answering, just shifted the car into drive and merged back onto the road. And he continued to be silent as they pulled out onto the main road, as Patton turned up the radio and started loudly singing along, as Roman scooted up as far as his seatbelt would allow and poked him in the shoulder. “Hey, Logan. What’s up? You seem upset?”  
“Oh my gosh you guys!” Patton squealed, lowering the volume again as it went to commercial. “We are going to Donut Wolf! Lo and I haven’t been since last Christmas at least. And when was the last time you went, Ro?”  
“After graduation,” Ro answered, keeping his eyes locked on the side of Logan’s face, still unable to catch the guy’s eye.  
“Oh my gosh! Graduation? That was so long ago! And now we are getting doughnuts again! Or pancakes! Maybe I’ll get them instead! Covered in powdered sugar and icing! I mean, it is basically a flat doughnut-”  
Suddenly, the whole car shuddered as something snapped. “Fuck!” Logan yelled, slamming one hand down on the steering wheel as he cautiously pulled the car to the side of the road. There was a long silence as Logan turned off the car and took a deep breath. “Stay here,” he ordered to both of the other boys, before carefully climbing out, avoiding traffic as he circled the car with a flashlight he had dug out of the pocket on the driver’s door. Patton turned back to Roman, giving him a mischievous grin before scrambling out of the car with Roman quickly following him. Logan looked up at both of them in disinterest, “I thought I told you both to stay in the car.”  
“And I didn’t listen. What else is new? What happened to the car?” Patton asked.  
Logan flicked the light down to the tire on Patton’s side, “Got a flat, plain and simple.”  
“And?” Patton pressed on.  
“And what?” Logan said, his voice dangerously low. “We can’t keep driving. It is impossible to drive on a flat tire.”  
“Well, I’m sorry I don’t know much about cars and how they work. I know you're tired and I don’t know jack about cars,” Patton snapped back.  
Logan growled, his flannel shirt flapping in the wind around him, “Were those intentional?”  
“What do you think?” Patton yelled.  
“If I may,” Roman tried interjecting. “Maybe you could just fix it? That’s a thing people do.”  
“That’s a thing people do when they have a tire!” Logan yelled back.  
“Well, I’m sorry I don’t know anything about cars! I meant too and then I forgot!” Patton yelled back.  
“Will you stop making your stupid references and puns for ten bloody seconds!”  
“No!!”  
Roman sighed, taking a step away from the fighting couple. Honestly, the fight scared him, but he couldn’t bring himself to care at that moment. Which was worrying in and of itself. He wandered closer to the edge of the woods, musing about how easy it would be to dump a body in these woods. I mean, there was the highway to contend with, but considering that no one had stopped to help them yet, he doubted that they would even care. Roman turned back towards the still fighting couple and let his gaze travel over to the glowing trunk. He could faintly remember Virgil getting something out of the trunk a couple of nights ago and again a week or so ago. There was a trick for opening it. Roman walked very slowly over to it, banging on the right corner twice and then it popped open. Roman reached in and pulled up the bottom of the trunk, revealing a jack and a spare tire. “Hey guys!” he shouted over.  
“What!” both whipped towards him, still spewing venom.  
Roman hefted the tire out of the trunk, “Look!”  
A couple of minutes later found Roman and Patton back in the car as Logan flat-out refused their help, stating simply that he didn’t trust either of them to do it right. Another two minutes found the whole crew back on the road. 

A mere twenty minutes later and they had walked into Donut Wolf and up to the empty counter to order. “What are you getting?” Roman asked.  
Logan opened his mouth, but before he could answer, Patton jumped in over him, “A dozen pinwheels.”  
Logan glared, “We got those last time. They are just a colourful catastrophe and you know it. And we agreed that we would go back and forth between ordering those and ordering the glazed.”  
“But the glazed are so boring,” Patton moaned dramatically. “I want something fun.”  
“And I want to avoid the sugar rush,” Logan argued back.  
“We are getting the pinwheels.”  
“We are getting glazed.”  
Patton whipped around to face Roman, “Roman, what are you getting?”  
“I-I was planning on getting the pinwheels,” Roman stammered, trying to avoid both of their intense gazes.  
“Fine, then I’ll just share with Roman instead,” Patton whipped back around and snapped at Logan.  
“Fine!” Logan yelled. “We’ll get your stupid pinwheels!”  
“Fine! A dozen pinwheels!” Patton yelled at the poor cashier whose eyes had been darting between them and was slightly trembling at this point.  
“And for you?” they whispered, looking over at Roman.  
“A dozen pinwheels as well,” Roman whispered, keeping his head down. His vision was beginning to tunnel and he was feeling ever so slightly nauseous. “I’ll be right back.”  
As Roman walked away, he could hear Patton mutter, “This is fun…”  
Roman closed the bathroom door behind him and walked over to the sink, bracing himself on the edge, his fingers clenched. “This isn’t fun. This blows,” he whispered to himself, looking up in the mirror. He took in his pale skin, his dark bags, his limp and tangled hair. Even his eyes themselves had dulled, all but losing that red tint that gave him that stupid nickname. “Why is everything so weird?” Roman asked, turning back to the door, but then his eyes locked onto the paper towel dispenser next to it. “I’m going to break something.”  
“What are you doing?” Patton yelled. Roman looked up to see Patton standing in the door to the bathroom. He looked around at the chaos of the bathroom he could only vaguely remember creating. There were paper towels everywhere, the sink was covered in what he could only hope was soap, and there were scratch marks on the walls of the bathroom stalls that he didn’t remember being there when he came in.  
“I don’t know,” Roman whispered more to himself than to Patton.  
Patton sighed and held out a hand to help Roman to his feet, “Help me clean this up.”  
There wasn’t much to be done about the scratch marks, but the rest of the bathroom was cleaned before they finally left ten minutes later. Logan sat at a table, two dozen doughnuts in fronts of him, quietly stewing. He looked up, glaring at both, as they sat down and began to eat. “So,” Roman started glancing between the other two silent members of their group. “How you guys doing? Other than, you know, all this stuff that’s been happening.” They kept quiet, so Roman continued to ramble between doughnuts, “Ghosts and stuff. Yep. That’s pretty new.” Roman turned to Logan, who was still picking at his first doughnut, “So, Logan, how did you convince Virgil to let you borrow his car?”  
“He lets us every so often if he doesn’t need it that evening,” Logan finally answered. “And Patton and I were supposed to do something tonight.”  
“But this is something!” Roman pointed out.  
Logan stared at him for a moment before saying, “Let’s just eat.”  
“Yes, please, let’s just eat,” Patton said, his tone short and words clipped.  
After another doughnut, Roman decided to speak up again, “So, how’s our son doing?”  
“He’s in our living room,” was Logan’s simple response.  
“He sure is!” Roman grabbed another doughnut and turned to his other friend, “Patton, you’re being awfully quiet.”  
Patton shrugged, swallowing the last of his doughnut before answering, “Just eating.”  
“You’ve never had a problem with eating and talking at the same time before,” Roman said, taking a bite of his doughnut. This was met with just silence while Roman finished his doughnut and reached for another.  
“It smells,” Logan suddenly said, putting the last of his doughnut on the napkin in front of him.  
Roman looked up in shock, “The Donut Wolf?”  
“The robot,” Logan clarified.  
“I thought you’d like it!” Patton suddenly yelled. “I smell, and you like me!”  
“Yeah!” Roman joined in. “Patton spent a lot of time and effort on it for you because he thought you’d like it!”  
“No,” Logan was slowly losing his measured tone, the anger leaking out. “ He did it because it was fun. No matter what could have happened.”  
Roman decided to be quiet, just reaching for another doughnut even as the world started to spin around him. Patton’s voice was very quiet as he said, “Logan, you’re being rude.”  
“I’m being rude?” Logan slammed his fist down on the table causing the other two to jump as his temper finally flared up. “We’re trying to get out of here, working our tails off and you come waltzing back in here and suddenly Patton is breaking into grocery stores-”  
“Abandoned ones!”  
“-and stealing car batteries-”  
“Abandoned ones!”  
“-and messing up our already crappy apartment!”  
“Hey, c’mon,” Patton’s voice trailed off.  
Roman looked up at Logan, suddenly realizing where all that anger was directed at, “Wait, how is this my fault?” Logan dropped back into his seat, silent. Patton didn’t provide any answer either. Roman looked down at his half-eaten doughnut, the whole world turning a shade of green as he launched himself at the nearby trash can, barely making it in time. After emptying his stomach of far-too-many doughnuts, he looked up to see Logan and Patton had run after him and were standing over him now. His eyes trailed over to Logan and he asked, “Why don’t you just tell me what is wrong instead of these awkward silences? Do you not like me, Logan?”  
Logan sighed, deflating, “No, I like you fine.”  
“Then why are you being weird?”  
Patton stepped closer, placing one hand on Roman’s back. “Let’s go outside,” he said softly and led Roman out the doors away from the glare of the counter worker who had started stalking over to them, leaving Logan to turn towards him.  
Patton and Roman sat down on the curb outside the shop, Roman leaning over so that his head was in Pat’s lap. Patton reached down with one hand to pet his hair while he began to speak. “I’ve always had issues. ADHD. Autistic. Bipolar. Doctor’s could never stick with a label when I was little. But when I was eight, my parents had enough and I was sent to spend the summer on my uncle’s sheep farm. It was a wonderful summer. I got to run around to my heart’s content and do all sorts of things without getting in trouble as long as I got my chores done. Until one day in mid-July. I opened a gate I shouldn’t have. A bunch of sheep got out. My uncle’s farm bordered an interstate. I tried to chase after them, a tiny, pudgy kid in overalls and no shoes. I’m sure it was quite the sight. By the time I reached them, they were already running across and a truck hit several of them. I tried calling the rest back, but another truck was coming that I didn’t see. Only the one that didn’t listen to me made it across alive. I stood on one side, he on the other. Then he turned and disappeared into the woods on the other side.” Patton closed his eyes and lowered his head as Roman looked up at him, trying to comprehend this story that Patton had kept inside of him. Patton took a shuddering breath and started again, “I want to be the sheep that made it. With Logan. We have a plan to leave and leave behind the town that failed us. That’s why I got a tattoo of that sheep in Bright Harbor. As a reminder to myself.” Patton looked down at Roman with a sad smile that definitely didn’t reach his eyes, “I’ve grown up a bit. Roman, you have to let me change.” Roman just turned his head, staring off into the night.  
The bell of the front door jingled as Logan walked out. He stopped next to the two and was silent for a long minute before saying, “Sorry I was rude earlier.”  
Roman pushed himself up to his feet, taking a step back from Patton, “It’s okay, but, Logan, I am leaving Patton to you. You better take really good care of him or I will hunt you down and not kill you. Just torture you very painfully. I’m sure Virgil will help and I know Remy would too.”  
Logan raised an eyebrow, “We already had this conversation, Roman.”  
“Just shut up and say your line.”  
“Thank y-”  
“You can’t leave me to anyone. I don’t belong to you,” Patton jumped in with a laugh.  
That was my line!”  
Roman laughed, “Sure was, buddy,” before turning and staring off, silently. After another, much less awkward, silence, Roman said, “Remember that one night when you, I, and Remy almost burned down the school.”  
Patton laughed, “How could I forget. Kids still talk about that night.”  
“Roman smiled as Logan wrapped one arm around Patton, “We’ll always be legends.”


	14. Chapter 14 (Tuesday)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter trigger warnings: ghost hunting, mention past family abuse, cults

Roman was exhausted when he woke up the next morning. Maybe it had to do with having to stay up extremely late last night trying to repair his friend’s relationship after realizing he was fracturing it, which involved moving that stupid robot to an early grave in the woods. Maybe it had to do with increasingly stranger dreams that were slipping through the cracks of his fingers. He barely glanced at his computer before stumbling downstairs, noticing only one thing.  
LBerry: Come pick your fight. Give your arrows flight. You mess with me, you mess with all of us.  
“Are you okay, little prince?” his mom asked. Roman looked up at her, trying to get his eyes to focus on her. It shouldn’t be this hard, should it? His mom had walked over at some point, feeling his forehead. “Roman, I think I should book another appointment with you with Dr Griggs.”  
Roman snapped his head up at that, “No, Mama. I’m fine.”  
His mom raised an eyebrow, “Mama? You haven’t called me that in years. I thought that it was too embarrassing to say.”  
Roman cursed in his head, “Slip of the tongue. Sorry.” He ducked out of her hands and started towards the door.  
“Roman?” his mom called after him. “I would like you to stay home tonight. I’m about to start dinner.”  
Roman turned back to her with his sad smile that had become way too common, “Not tonight, Mom. I’m going to spend some time with Logan. I upset him and am trying to make up for it. Next time, I promise.”  
His mom crossed her arms, “Next time, sure.”  
Roman ignored that, barely remembering to grab his jacket as he ducked out the door. He stopped outside, staring up at the power lines. He had been nervous to try to walk them again after falling off that one two weeks ago. Plus they had been doing construction through town and in his experience, that never helped with trying to balance on power lines without getting electrocuted. Maybe he could-  
“ I hope you aren’t planning on climbing up there.”  
Roman whipped around to see his uncle walking over, his arms crossed. “What? Of course not!” he quickly denied.  
Thomas raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing him, but changed the subject, “I found out something that might interest you.”  
“And what could that possibly be?” Roman asked.  
“Remember that arm you kids found a couple weeks back?” Thomas’s mouth twitched towards a smile as Roman suddenly perked up. “Finally got the forensics report back. The guy was already dead when his arm was chopped off.”  
Roman waited a minute, before pushing when he realized Thomas wasn’t going to say anything else, “Is that it?”  
“What, did you expect something more?” Thomas said.  
“Maybe like a DNA match? Who was the guy?” Roman asked.  
Thomas shrugged, “We got the DNA results back last week. We didn’t have any match in our systems. None for fingerprints either. No missing person reports have been filed in this county for over a month. There is no telling who the guy was.”  
Roman sighed, “Okay, thank you for telling me, Uncle Thomas.”  
Thomas perked up slightly in surprise, “Your welcome, Roman.”  
Roman gave him a slight smile before turning and walking away with a quick wave, “See you around, Uncle Mall Cop.” A barely concealed laugh was heard as Roman continued through the streets in search of Logan.

“Are you excited?” Roman asked Logan as they pulled into Possum Jump.  
Logan shrugged as he parked Virgil’s car that he had somehow convinced him to let them borrow for a second day in a row despite the blown tire, “What do you mean?”  
“We’re going ghost hunting!” Roman cheered looking around the dark park, the path lights the only thing keeping the place from being a repeat of the graveyard.  
“No,”” Logan corrected. “We are looking for your ghost.”  
Roman turned around in surprise and asked in an overly-dramatic whisper, “Logan, do you not believe in ghosts?”  
“I don’t believe in the supernatural,” Logan stated simply. “For my own personal reasons, I’m still going to help you look for whatever you are looking for.”  
Roman gave him a soft smile, “Thanks.”  
The two started up the hill, but only made it to the first turn when Logan cried out, “Stop.”  
Roman turned back in surprise to see Logan was heaving, “What’s wrong?”  
Logan waved him off, “I just have asthma.”  
“Shouldn’t you have like an inhaler for that? Or is this too much for? Should we turn back?” Roman asked him in rapid-fire style, not sure how to help his friend.  
Logan waved him off again, “I have an inhaler, but I would rather only use it for emergencies. They are expensive. I’ll be fine if I rest for a moment.”  
They stayed that way for another long moment, Logan catching his breath while Roman stared at a strange structure that was sitting on the slight flat surface they were on. “What is that?” Roman asked.  
Logan took another deep breath before explaining, “That is a lime kiln. There used to be a deposit over here. Let’s go.”  
Roman pouted a bit at having the conversation cut short, but started up the hill again after Logan. It wasn’t long before they had to stop again and Roman was delighted to find another kiln at their next stopping place. He waited for Logan to get most of his breath back before asking, “What did they make in these lime kilns?”  
“They used to make limestone with them,” Logan explained.  
“Then why did they stop?” Roman asked as he took more careful note of it’s abandoned state.  
“Now, I could be environmentally conscious and a liar and say it was because they burned fossil fuels and wanted to stop, but the reality is they found a way to burn fossil fuels more efficiently,” Logan said with a laugh. “Let’s go.”  
“Fossil fuels?” Roman asked, jogging slightly to catch up to Logan who hadn’t heard him. When they reached their next stop, he asked again, “Isn’t fossil fuels like dinosaurs and such?”  
Logan laughed, his breathes still shaky, “That is true. But there were only so many dinosaurs. We are burning through dinosaurs fast and need to find alternative energy sources before we either destroying our planet or running out and having no energy.”  
Roman smirked, “You sound like you would have been one of those sciencey environment-saving students I went to school with.”  
Logan chuckled again, “I probably would have. But college was not for me.” Upon seeing Roman’s face suddenly dropping, Logan leaned forward to talk to him slightly softer, “Don’t worry, Roman. I am not mad like Virgil is about you throwing away a chance I didn’t get. I had the chance. I decided to stay home until I could get out with Patton. Neither of us wanted to be separated. Maybe one day, in the future, I’ll go, but that is not feasible for me right now. And I am content with that. This means I can learn what I want when I want. And I like that.”  
Roman took a deep breath of relief and looked up the hill, “I think we are almost to the top.”  
Logan nodded, pushing himself back up, “We are. Let’s go.”  
The two reached the top of the hill and Roman walked to the edge of the cliff, “The newspaper said that the Possum massacre graves were up here.”  
“No doubt unmarked,” Logan shuddered before sitting down next to Roman who was looking up at the night sky.  
“I’ve been studying dusk stars with Dr Picani,” Roman whispered. “But I don’t think they are anything compared to a view like this.”  
Logan nodded, “I completely agree. Astronomy is just so fascinating. I wish I had time to study it more, but I don’t know nearly as much as I would like too.”  
“But you know the stories, which is the best part. Tell me a few,” Roman requested.  
Logan turned his head towards him, a look of pure confusion on his face, “I don’t know any. Where did you get that idea?”  
“You shared some of them with me and Patton. And Virgil. Or Remy. I can’t remember who the fourth person was. At Longest Night a couple years ago,” Roman said, trying to place the exact memory.  
Logan shook his head slowly, “Roman, that never happened.”  
“Oh, Roman fell silent for a moment. “But didn’t you learn at least a few at church? All those old stories and such?”  
“My family didn’t go to church,” Logan simply stated. Roman froze, it really wasn’t often that Logan mentioned his family and this was probably one of the first times he ever volunteered information. After an agonizingly long moment, Logan added, “I really don’t believe in any sort of the supernatural.”  
“Why?” Roman barely whispered.  
Logan let out a deep sigh and Roman almost took back his question, but Logan beat him to it, “When I was little, my dad used to hit me.” Roman froze, staring at his friend who let out a dark chuckle, “It wasn’t so bad though. Could have been worse. He was nowhere near the level of my mom. She wouldn’t feed me. And when I became too emotional, she would shut me in the pantry. Hard. The cans would fall on me and I couldn’t touch them. I would be stuck in there for hours, up to a whole day. Back then, I would try to telepathically alert the neighbours, but it never worked. I gave up eventually.” Logan stopped, turning his head to look at Roman, “My dad left ten years ago. But I still have to visit my mom. She has dementia now and none of my other siblings will help or live too far away.” Roman opened his mouth as if to say something, but Logan turned back up to the stars and started speaking before he could, “Humans are pattern-finders. But there is no great pattern out there to solve. I believe in a universe that doesn’t care and people who do. No greater being found me in that pantry. But, a few years later, Patton did.”  
Roman watched as Logan pushed himself to his feet, “You’re a good person, Lo.”  
Logan scoffed, “Do you really think that after hearing all of that?”  
Roman smiled as he accepted Logan’s outstretched hand and got pulled to his feet. “Of course. And Patton thinks so too. Even if he doesn’t think the same of himself.”  
“He should. He really is my saviour,” Logan said with a sad smile. Suddenly, Logan’s entire body tensed up and he whispered, “Stay very still, but there is someone watching us from the woods.” Roman tensed up and started to whisper something back, but Logan gave a slight shake of his head as he turned towards where Roman assumed the figure was. “Who goes there?” he called out.  
Roman turned to where Logan was facing and gasped as he recognized the cloaked figure standing there. “That’s the ghost,” he whispered to Logan.  
“That is no ghost,” Logan whispered back. He shouted again, “Answer me!”  
The figure ignores them and Roman decides to try, “I know you have been following me! I know you took that kid! Why are you doing this!”  
“Roman,” Logan tried to caution him.  
Roman, of course, ignored him, screaming, “Answer me! Who are you!”  
Logan grabbed Roman’s arm, “Roman. I don’t like the look of this guy. On my signal, we are going to run towards the car. Don’t stop until we are there.”  
“What about your asthma?” Roman asked.  
“I have an inhaler. And it is a good one. I’ll make it,” Logan answered.  
“Okay, on your mark,” Roman gave Logan’s hand a quick squeeze, bracing himself to run.  
“Go!” Logan took off running with Roman quickly following him. They burst past the figure that didn’t appear to even move, it’s cloak not even rustling in the force of the wind of them running past. They made it about halfway down the hill when a horrible chill came over Roman and he looked down to see a transparent version of the figure passing through him. Roman jerked his head up to see the figure giving him a wave as it floated in front of him before disappearing.  
Roman dove after Logan into the car, but it didn’t feel like all of him made it as he turned around to stare back at Possum Jump, thinking to himself that that had to be in his head, not real. He turned again to see the car speeding off, but the next second, he was back in the car. He lurched forward with a groan, Logan swerving, trying to keep the car on the road with one hand while using his inhaler with the other. “Are you okay, Roman? You look like you are going to be sick,” Logan gasped as he struggled to breathe again.  
Roman groaned, curling up in his seat, not even bothering to latch himself down with his seatbelt. “I need everyone,” he moaned.  
“What?”  
“Everyone. Now.”

“Surely there is another explanation for all of this?” Virgil asked from his spot in front of the couch.  
“No!” Roman snapped back, pacing up and down Logan and Patton’s small living room. “I’m telling you what I saw. Maybe some of it is in my head, but Logan saw the figure tonight, so at least some of it has to be real.”  
“Maybe it was just someone who watches the stars from Possum Jump too? And we were disturbing him? Maybe we overreacted?” Logan mused, Patton looking up at him from where he was snuggled into his side in concern.  
Roman stopped, staring at Logan for a long moment, enough for him to realize something was wrong and look up at Roman. “Fine,” Roman sighed. “I’ll go to the woods alone. But with you or not, I’m figuring this out tonight.”  
“No, you won’t be alone,” Logan said, detangling himself from Patton and standing up. “I’ll go with you. I may not believe in ghosts, but I believe in you, Ro.”  
“Awwww!” Patton squealed, jumping to his feet too. “Of course, I’m going too!”  
Virgil sighed, throwing his head back onto the couch, “Fine.” He pushed himself up to his feet, shoving his hands into his hoodie pockets, “I’m going too. Someone has to make sure you morons all don’t wind up dead or lost out in the woods.”  
Virgil drove the entire crew out to the woods and they started walking through on a slightly overgrown path, following Roman, but on Virgil’s direction. “Are you sure we should go this way?” Roman asked.  
“Yes,” Virgil insisted. “There is something wrong here.”  
“Something?”  
“Something wrong.”  
“ugh, “ Roman moaned. “I hate when you’re just vague!”  
Virgil rolled his eyes and pocked Roman in the back, “Get going, Princey.”  
“Are you sure there won’t be any owls?” Patton called out from behind them.  
“Don’t worry, Pat. I gotcha,” Logan said.  
Roman snickered, “Nerds!”  
“Hush, they’re sweet,” Virgil defended them.  
“I know. The sweetest,” Roman said with a smile, turning back to smile at Virgil. He noticed the sun was beginning to rise behind Virgil and quickly turned to set off again.  
It wasn’t long after that that they heard voices and Roman motioned for the others to get down as they crawled closer to the edge of a cliff they had been passing. Peeking over the edge, they see a whole collection of people wearing those cloaks gathered around a cave entrance. They were surrounding another member whose leg was trapped under a giant rock. “Please!” the member was begging.  
“No, Jimmy. You broke the rules. You left something behind that could have revealed us,” another figure said.  
“I’m sorry! How many times do I have to say it!”  
“No, Jimmy,” another figure said. “This is your punishment.”  
“Please! No! Don’t kill me!”  
“What was that?” all the figures jerked their heads up as the group on top of the cliff scrambled back out of view.  
The other three looked over at Roman who was covering his mouth with both hands in shock. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.  
“Nevermind that,” Virgil hissed. “Run!”  
All four of them took off running. Roman could vaguely see that Logan had grabbed Patton’s hand as they ran off into the woods. Virgil took off in another direction and Roman tried to follow him, but lost him quickly to the swirling trees of the forest. He kept running and running and running until his foot hit a rock and he went falling and falling and nothing.


	15. Day ??? (???)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter trigger warnings: cults, death mention, spiraling mental state, hallucinations

Virgil lit a cigarette while leaning against a wall, taking a deep breath, letting out the trail of smoke slowly as he watched the monkeys jump across the TV. “Do you really have to do that inside?” Virgil looked down at Patton, who was laying across the couch, bundled up in his cat hoodie and a pair of sweatpants, impassively pushing buttons on a controller as he punched another box open.  
“Would you rather me do it outside?” Virgil asked, pulling his hoodie closer around him. Patton and Logan hadn’t turned the heat in their apartment on for the winter yet, relying on the apartments below them, but soon it wouldn’t be enough.  
“Yeah, aren’t you guys supposed to be hiding?” Joan asked from their position in front of the couch, their beanie pulled low over their ears and face, the long tufts of their growing hair sticking out.  
A loud crash sounded from the kitchen followed by a string of curses. Virgil looked over at Patton, who didn’t even react as Logan called out an apology. Virgil poked his head around the corner into the kitchen, “Are you okay there? Do you need help?”  
Logan slammed a cabinet door shut, barely hiding the pots and pans from view. “I’m fine,” he growled. “I’m stressed. I’m cooking. I’m stress-cooking. Leave me alone.”  
“You really don’t want to be in there when he’s stress-cooking,” Patton added. “It can get very dangerous, very quickly.”  
Virgil groaned, sliding down the wall, and flicking his ash into the plastic cup Logan had given him three cigarettes ago, “How are you guys so calm about this?”  
Patton shrugged while Joan just answered, “I’m not.”  
There they sat in silence, much like they had the whole day, only the sound of Logan’s very loud banging and the sounds of the video game enemies dying breaking through the fog of emptiness surrounding them all. Virgil had just snuffed out his cigarette when suddenly he jerked his head up, hissing, “What was that?”  
Joan paused the video game and Logan poked his head into the living room. Patton jerked up on the couch, a little bit of life reentering his eyes in the form of fear. There was the sound of something shuffling down the hallway and then a loud boom echoed through the apartment as whatever it was hit their door. The group looked at each other and Virgil slowly made his way to his feet and silently crept across the apartment to the door.

Roman opened his eyes from where he was laying on the forest floor. Everything seemed to be moving in stop-motion around him as he clambered back to his feet and started moving through the haze around him. The sounds of the woods were far too muted for comfort and there seemed to be nothing moving, not even the wind rustling the dead leaves. Despite everything moving in stop-motion, the background seemed to zoom by as he slowly walked out of the woods, through the Food Donkey parking lot, and down a seemingly abandoned street. There was nobody anywhere. The world had just emptied around him. Everything was getting too heavy. Too hard. Roman felt his legs give out from under him as he fell to the ground and lay there as everything faded back to black.  
The whole world shifted around him. He seemed to be floating through space as suddenly the world melted into the church. He was laying on a pew with his mother and father looking down at him. Stepped just slightly back were Talyn, Dr Picanai, Elliott, a short woman he didn’t recognize, and that stupid janitor. “What happened?” the short woman asked. Roman tried to place her voice, but he couldn’t. Who was she?  
“We don’t know,” his father explained. Thomas found him just laying in the middle of the street.  
“I should have stayed up and waited for him to come home. I should have been more involved,” his mom whispered. “Instead, I just let him go. He has been acting so strange ever since he got home from college. Almost like…” His mom burst into tears as his dad tried to comfort her. Roman wanted to reach up and say something. But he couldn’t. Everything was just too heavy…  
Roman closed his eyes again and when he opened them, he was at a hospital. He watched as the janitor left the room and looked up at his parents. “Roman, sweetie?” his mom said. “How are you feeling?”  
Roman closed his far too heavy eyes as he whispered, “The house is gone. It’s dead.”  
“What’s wrong?” he heard his dad say as his mom gasped in the background.  
Roman looked up at him through barely opened eyes, “Everything.”

When Roman woke up again, he found himself in his own bed dressed in a tank top and sweatpants. He grabbed something to put on over top of his pyjamas and started down the stairs. He wasn’t sure where he was going or where he even was, but when he fell against a door in some random building in Possum Springs. He pulled the red hoodie he had apparently grabbed closer around himself as he heard people moving around on the other side of the door. The door opened and he fell onto the floor as the person above him cried out, “Roman?”  
Roman looked up the freckled figure with the purple hair with a weak smile, “Hey?”  
Next thing Roman remembered, he had been moved to the couch inside Patton and Logan’s apartment and he just listened to snippets of conversations around him talking about burnt lasagna and the merits of different versions of Donkey Kong. Roman was helped by someone to a sitting position. A paper plate with a piece of cheese pizza sat in his lap, but he didn’t touch it as his stomach knotted up more and more. Eventually, Patton took it away with a sad smile as Logan led him into the kitchen where their landline was and dialled Roman’s parents.  
Somehow, the phone ended up in Roman’s hand as she worried at him. “I’m fine,” he promised.  
“Are you sure?” his mom asked. “I don’t even know how you possibly got out of the house and all the way across town with the state you were in!” Roman swallowed as he really didn’t know either. “Are you sure you don’t want us to come pick you up?”  
“No, Mom,” Roman quickly stopped her. “Virgil will be here. I’ll have him take me home in the morning.”  
There was silence for a long moment before his mom said, “Okay, then. Get some rest, darling. You need it.”  
“I will,” Roman handed the phone back up to Logan who said a few things before hanging up. He helped Roman back to the couch where he laid back down and said, “My mom said I can stay till morning as long as Virgil is.”  
Patton looked over at Virgil in surprise who just gave a small smile, “Of course.”  
“But we only have one couch,” Patton pointed out.  
“That’s no problem. Scoot over,” Virgil got up and clamoured onto the couch as well, sticking his feet up by Roman’s face, wiggling them as he did so.  
“Ewww,” Roman moaned, pushing the feet away as Virgil laughed.  
“What about-” Patton gestured towards Joan who held up a hand.  
“I wasn’t out there in the woods with you guys,” they pointed out. “I think I’ll be safe to go home.”  
“Are you sure?” Virgil asked, his face slightly ashen.  
Joan nodded, “I’ll be fine. Won’t be my first time wandering through this city after midnight. Plus I have this!” He pulled a bottle of pepper spray out of his pocket. “See ya!”  
They carefully slipped out the front door and Patton got up to lock it behind them. Logan walked over to where Patton had stopped, just resting his hand on the lock and clicked it over himself. He turned Patton around and whispered something to him, the two having a quiet conversation as Patton wrapped his arms tighter around himself. Logan looked over at the two watching them from the couch and said, “We’re going to bed too. Good night.”  
The two lay in silence for a little while after they closed the bedroom door, Roman’s eyes wide awake for the first time in who knows how many days. Huh, he should probably ask that. He opens his mouth, but that question was not the one to come out. Instead, he asks, “Do you know why I beat Harley Foley down four years ago?”  
He felt Virgil shift as if pushing himself up to look at Roman better. “No,” he said. “We weren’t talking then and I thought it would be weird to bring it up now.”  
Roman bit his lip and shared the story that he had only ever told his journals and therapist in pieces, “I was playing this ghost dating simulator all the time. I mean 24/7, at least anytime I wasn’t at school or softball practice. But one day, something just broke. I don’t know if it was me or the game, but something broke. It was just pixels. They were just shapes. They didn’t exist. They never would and I lost these people that I had cared so deeply about before. And then that realization dumped out of the screen and into real life. And everything I felt was just in my head and everything else was just dead. The next day was the softball game. I was up to bat, Harley was pitching. And Harley was just shapes. Poor poor sweet Harley. There was nothing there. And I was so scared, I just…” Roman’s voice hitched as he took a deep, shuddering breath. “Next thing I knew, I was on top of him smashing his face in with the bat.”  
There was silence for a long moment before Virgil asked, “Have you talked to anyone about what happened?”  
Roman turned his head so he was looking out into the living room, “They made me go to therapy. The doctor made me start a journal to get my thoughts down.”  
“Did it help?”  
“Sorta,” Roman shrugged as he felt Virgil lay back down. “But now, when I’m alone in a new place, it’s all shapes. I was doing fine at college for a while, but I couldn’t make friends. I was afraid of being outside or around people alone. And there was this statue of the founder pointing at me… I was too scared to leave my dorm room. I either couldn’t eat or ate entire pizzas at once. I downed cough syrup just to sleep. Then something snapped. I left. And I came home. Where everything was fine. And I knew everyone.”  
There was silence for a long moment before Virgil said, “It sounds like you’re suffering from some serious stuff. Maybe you should see someone other than this doctor?”  
Roman gave a sort of choked laugh before saying, “I was doing fine. But this stuff started happening and… and…”  
“Shhh,” he felt Virgil sit up and buried his face into his hoodie sleeves, barely noticing the fact that there were fingers carding through his very tangled hair. “It will be fine,” he heard Virgil whisper. “You should get some sleep.” Roman couldn’t argue with that as he finally fell asleep sobbing.

When he woke up again, Virgil had fallen asleep and there was the faintest hint of grey light appearing on the horizon. Roman took a deep breath before carefully climbing off the couch, trying his best to not disturb Virgil. He grabbed one of two flashlights that were left out of the coffee table and walked over to the door. He looked back at Virgil and whispered, “I’m so sorry. But I can’t keep dragging you down into whatever this is. Goodbye.” Roman slowly turned the lock and walked out of the apartment.  
He quickly found that he still wasn’t that he still wasn’t up to full speed and the world around him was extremely blurred if he wasn’t focused on that specific thing. But he kept going, making his way out of the apartment, down past the Food Donkey, and back into the woods, his light barely keeping up in front of him. Roman had almost made it all the way back to the cave when the cloaked figure appeared in front of him once again. “Who are you?” Roman asked in a hoarse whisper, trying to straighten up from his horribly hunched position. “I know you have been following me. But why? What did I do?” The figure continued to stare at him, the mask under that hood boring holes through Roman’s barely open eyes. “Answer me!” he screamed.  
It started to walk forward and, panicking, Roman stumbled back into a tree. Somewhere behind him, an arrow whizzed by, nailing the figure in the shoulder. The figure hissed in pain before turning and running into the cave. “Roman!” a voice cried out behind him and he turned around the tree in time for a black and purple-clad figure to crash into him, literally scooping him up. “What the hell were you thinking?!” Virgil screamed as he put Roman back down, checking him all over.  
“I’m fine,” Roman mumbled, pushing Virgil’s hand away weakly.  
“Why did you leave?” Logan appeared behind Virgil, his flannel shirt buttoned up crooked with some serious bedhead. Patton appeared as well, staring off into the cave entrance with his crossbow pointed straight inside. His hood was down, but he had extra bolts stored in his hoodie pocket.  
Roman looked down at the ground, his bare feet playing with some of the fallen leaves. “I didn’t want to involve you guys anymore,” he admitted. “It was all getting dangerous and I wanted to keep you safe.”  
Virgil gripped Roman by his shoulders, the other two turning to stare at them, “If you try that mushy sentiment again, I will personally disassemble you.” He released Roman, stepping around him to look at the entrance, “So what’s the plan?”  
“Wait,” Roman said, still in shock. “You guys are not going in with me!”  
“Sure we are!” Patton said cheerfully before Virgil could. “Besides, you are facing weird cultists. You need a weapon specialist.” When everyone just stared at him, his face dropped into confusion, “What? I brought more than enough bolts. Should I not be the one carrying the weapons cause I’m-”  
“No,” Logan cut him off with finality. “It’s just, you called them cultists?”  
“Yeah, cause they have that weird cloak and mask thing going on. Kinda reminds me of the Death Eaters or the KKK. They were both cultist groups, right?” Patton said.  
“Damn,” Virgil hissed. “I hate cultists.”  
“What does that mean?” Roman asked.  
“It means they are either going to try to recruit us or they are going to try to kill us,” Logan explained, pushing his glasses up. “Let’s go.” The group walked into the cave entrance with Logan explaining, “This is actually a mine entrance. I did a bit of research after the last time we were here.”  
“Does that mean- Oh no,” Virgil stopped, the flashlight he had taken from Roman landing on an old-fashioned mine elevator.  
“Yup, down we go!” Roman hopped on, but the others hesitated.  
“Princey, are you sure you want to do this?” Virgil asked, keeping his eyes locked on Roman.  
“Yeah, are you sure?” Patton asked, but his eyes were on the rickety elevator, his hands clutching his crossbow close.  
“Guys,” Roman said, his voice dropping. “You don’t understand. He’s in my head. I can’t function like this. Everything is dying or dead. I don’t know what’s down there. But I don’t think it’s just the cult.”  
Virgil blinked, “Okay then. Let’s go.” He stepped onto the elevator next to Roman and was slowly followed by the others. The elevator plunged into the depths of the mine only lit by the flickering of Logan and Virgil’s flashlights.  
When the elevator reached the bottom with a loud clang and cloud of dust, Roman burst into a coughing fit, hunching over as the pain in his stomach that he had been ignoring grew. “Roman! Are you okay?” Logan jumped forward, rubbing his back. “I brought my inhaler. Do you need it?”  
“No,” Roman waved him off. “It’s just like something huge is on top of me.”  
Virgil flicked his flashlight up, “I mean you’re not wrong.”  
“That’s how asthma is,” Logan pointed out.  
“Not asthma,” Roman heaved one last time before straightening up as much as he could, his arms still wrapped around his stomach.  
“Shhhh<” Patton suddenly hushed them, lifting up his crossbow. “I heard something.”  
Virgil stepped forward by Roman again, “Are you going to be okay, Ro?”  
“Yeah,” Roman nodded. “We should be quiet though.”  
“Yeah,” Virgil snorted. “Gotta save up for the screaming later.”  
The four started forward once again, moving at Roman’s snail pace as he found himself unable to move very quickly. It was a long silent journey down the long, sloping tunnel until they reached a small, wooden door. After a silence glance went around the group, Virgil opened the door and they walked into some sort of strange, underground room. Virgil covered his mouth in horror while Logan flicked his own flashlight around the room, highlighting pew and strange drawings on the wall, asking, “What is this? Some sort of church or something?”  
“Oh no,” Roman whispered, stumbling again as that strange weight grew heavier.  
Virgil stepped forward, wrapping an arm around Roman as he tried to help him stay upright, “What’s wrong?”  
“It’s here,” Roman whispered, starting to shake. “It’s here. It’s here. Oh no. It’s through there.” Roman lifted up a finger to point at the other side of the room. Logan lifted up his flashlight to shine at another door before it suddenly died. Virgil held up his increasingly dimming flashlight, but it barely lit up a foot in front of them and they stumbled forward in the dark to the door, Roman leading the way through. On the other side was another tunnel, barely wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side, but they trudged forward anyway. Just as it was starting to widen, Roman suddenly stopped and called out, “I know you’re there! Say something!”  
“Well,” a strange voice called back in front of them. “How about this: Take a few more steps forward if you wanna die.”  
“Show yourself, you cowards!” Patton snapped, aiming his crossbow forward.  
A light appeared ahead and then another. Soon, enough to light up the whole cavern, revealing the cult members on the other side of a gaping hole in the ground. Upon seeing it just a few feet in front of them, Roman gasped, covering his mouth in shock, stepping backwards, and grabbing Virgil’s sleeve. One of the cult members pointed at them, shouting, “There they are! They’re right there! I’m gonna kill them!”  
“Eric,” the front cult member who had spoken first held up a hand. “You will do no such thing.”  
“He shot me!” the other cult member said in disbelief.  
The first one shrugged, “Then I’d say we’re even. Little boy got shot at the other night.”  
“Yeah,” another one of the cult members said. “Sorry about that.”  
Roman blinked, lowering his hand as he questioned, “You’re apologizing?”  
The cult member shrugged, “It was a bad call, okay?”  
“Uh, it’s okay?” Roman looked up at Virgil who looked just as confused. “It didn’t actually hit me, so… Wait. What the- Who are you?”  
The first cult member sighed, “A bunch of old boys doing their damnedest to protect their own and their neighbours.”  
Roman asked, “Then why are you trying to kill me?”  
There was a shocked burst of silence from the other side before one of the cult members spoke up in his own disbelief, “Kill you?”  
“We were never trying to kill you,” another one said.  
“All of you are part of this town,” the first cult member explained. “Either by family relation or just by being hard workers.”  
“Contributors,” another one added.  
“Okay?” Roman was still very confused. “So, we could just leave?”  
“Well,” the first cult member spoke up again. “He brought you down here for a reason. And he’s not going to let you leave until he’s had his say.”  
“Well, he’s already got an arrow through the shoulder,” Roman snapped back. “I don’t think he’s going to have much say in anything.”  
There was silence again as the cult members looked at each other. Finally, the first cult member spoke up again, “Wait, you think that Eri-”  
“He kidnapped that kid at Halloween!” Roman yelled. “He’s been in my head somehow! Always tired! Constant headaches! He’s been following me… Following all of us! He…” Roman trailed off again as the pain and churning started up again and he grabbed onto Virgil’s arm as he started to go down.  
“Oh, little boy,” the first cult member tutted. “You really don’t know what this is, do you?”  
“What?” Roman started to question before he looked down at the hole again. Everything churning inside of him started churning around him as he felt himself fall deep, deep, deep into that hole, even as his feet stayed planted firmly on that ground with Virgil still holding onto him.  
The cult member’s voice started to echo around him, “It was Joe Skudder and Jim Dorney that found it about 20 years back or so after the West Mine closed out past Bridle. Vest Schumacher, the last supervisor was out there when the company locked off the entrance. Carved his initials and date into that door. Then you got this mine, the old one. Not even a proper mine. Big hole. Copper. Abandoned, shoot, long before any of us were even born. Too close to water. And that water was poison when the first settlers came out here. That old spring from your story used to be right above where we’re standing. But that water dried up. 1992 or so, some men from the west mine come back up here to try bootleggin. Practically built a new elevator, got the main tunnel cleared. Never found no coal, just dug deeper and deeper til Ed busts through that door and finds this place and Jim walks right into that hole and never finds the bottom. Ed calls down to Jim. Jim don’t answer, but something else does.” There was silence for a long moment before the cult member continued, “I know you’ve heard that voice, little boy. In dreams and in waking times. It’s what brought you down here.”  
“So what does this have to do with you or me or anyone?” Roman demanded, feeling himself finally come back together on the cliffside.  
The first cult member sighed before continuing, “You’ve got to understand, in those days it was the end of the world. Jobs gone, our kids leaving. Government didn’t care, only wanted our votes. Just putting in more regulations, sending our jobs overseas, spending our taxes on lazy people and immigrants while we worked ourselves to death.”  
Virgil groaned, “Here we go again. Bunch of stupid, old dipshits.”  
There was silence for a moment before the cult member asked, “Are you finished?”  
Virgil shrugged, “Yeah sure. Whatever.”  
“We prayed and prayed up at the church,” the cult member continued. “But when Ed Skudder came back down here and listened, he got answers back.”  
Roman tightened his grip on Virgil’s arm, his nails digging in, “Oh no…”  
“He’s been singing to ya, hasn’t he?” the cult member chuckled. Roman grabbed at his hair with his other hand, trying to respond, but nothing was coming out but gasps as the pain intensified. “Ed Skudder tried to tell a few people and they didn’t believe him, but he was persuasive. He had the glimmer.”  
“The glimmer?” Patton asked, his crossbow having been lowered during the narration.  
“Those he takes a shining to, well he rubs off on ya,” another one of the cult members spoke up. “You can do things.”  
“I never seen it,” the first cult member said. “But they say Ed could walk through walls. But after Ed talked us all into this, after the first time, after we picked one out, well, not only was the town more stable, but it was almost as if we were getting younger and there was money coming in too. Still a few of us left from back then.”  
“Wait,” Roman said, suddenly realizing something. “What do you mean ‘First Time?’”  
“First one into the hole by our own hands,” the cult member said. “We own up to what we do. I was there.”  
“So was I,” spoke up another cult member.  
“You throw them in the hole?” Virgil asked, his voice dropping into the realms of horrified.  
Roman gulped, visibly shaking by this point. “They’re… feeding him…” he murmured.  
“He’s hungry like you wouldn’t believe,” one of the cult members laughed.  
“Every few months or so, he starts singing,” the first cult member explained. “And it’s someone’s turn to find someone.”  
“Was that what you were doing the other night?” Roman asked.  
“No, what happened the other night was a shame,” the first cult member said with a sigh. “One of our members broke the rules. And they had to pay up. It was a real shame.”  
Roman moaned again, “I think I’m going to be sick.”  
“We never pick no one who is going to be missed,” the cult member continued. “That’s a solid rule. Drifters, drunks, delinquents.”  
“Oh no,” Roman’s eyes dropped to the hole as he whispered, horrified by the thought that came to mind. “Remy?”  
“The Caste kid?” the cult member asked. “All he was gonna contribute to society, except a bunch of kids growing up with no dad, was a rap sheet a mile long until whatever sad end he’d wind up at. We did him a favour.”  
There was a long moment of silence before Patton spoke up again, his voice sounding absolutely shattered, “You killed Remy?”  
“Oh no,” Logan whispered, both his hands coming up to cover his own mouth, stepping back.  
“You know he was taking up business with his cousin, right?” the cult member continued, oblivious to their suffering or just not caring. “You know what happened to his cousin? Burned alive when his little trailer lab exploded. They had to wear hazmat suits when they cleaned him up. That’s where Remy was heading.”  
“You killed Remy,” Patton whispered, his head lowered to the ground.  
“And you want to act like we didn’t do him and this whole town a favour?” the cult member demanded.  
“Remy’s been down here the whole time,” Roman whispered, still staring down the hole. He finally lifted his head again and yelled, “His parents put up posters!”  
The cult member shrugged, “Maybe they shoulda cared more about him before it came to this.”  
Patton growled and realization crossed Logan’s mind, but before he could do anything, Patton had already hefted up his crossbow and ran to the very edge of the hole, yelling, “Which one of you did it!!!” Virgil dropped Roman, who staggered and would have fallen if it wasn’t for Logan lunging forward to grab him, and wrapped his arms around Patton, keeping him from actually using the crossbow. Virgil tried to calm him, but Patton just kicked and screamed, “He was my friend!!!”  
He stopped when they heard the click of a gun being loaded and saw one of the cult members pointing a rifle at them, “Alright now. Throw it down right now or I will shoot.”  
Patton started laughing somewhat hysterically, “What if I hit you first? Bolt sticking straight out of your eye. Bang Bang.”  
“You brought guns out here?” Logan demanded from where he was trying to help Roman get back on his own feet.  
Another cult member shrugged, “Dangerous this far out in the woods at night. Basic safety. Now throw it down, son. Don’t make this worse then it is.”  
“Patty,” Virgil whispered, silently begging the rest.  
Patton held fast for all of ten more seconds before dropping his crossbow entirely, deflating as his anger left him. “Dangit,” he whispered to himself as Virgil backed them away from the cliff before finally releasing him.  
Roman, on the other hand, was working himself up, pulling at his hair as he swayed and trembled, saying, “This isn’t real. None of this. None of this is happening.”  
He felt himself drift away again, spiralling through space in stop-motion as the first cult member spoke up again, “We are not monsters. We do it because we love our home. As long as we keep doing this, Possum Springs survives. Things can get better. These mines are going to be humming again someday. Old mills puffing smoke. You kids don’t understand that; we lost what our world was built around. Used to be, you provided for a family, bought a house. Now you’re stocking shelves at the grocery store. Kids leaving more than they’re staying cause there is no opportunity here. Old people dying, their houses left empty. You ever seen that? A house become a tumbled-in pile of wood and plaster? A job become a burnt out brick box or a hole in the ground? But we can change that. We can put this place back together, where it won’t be just…”  
“Shapes,” Roman whispered as the voice finally faded out. “I’m going to die down here.” He looked up, realizing he was back in his body, holding his stomach and staring at the cult members across the hole. Virgil and Logan were just a foot behind him, Patton on the ground behind them. Roman tilted his head, asking, “Why are you telling me all this?”  
The cult member sighed, “Because we are getting old and even with the fringe benefit of good health, we need new blood to carry this on when we’re gone.”  
“Really?” Virgil demanded. “You are actually pitching this on us? Were any of you even miners back in the day? Any of you hurting now financially? Or is this just some costume party murder club for someone’s shitty boss who is afraid of dying?”  
“That don’t matter,” the cult member tried to wave his questions off.  
Virgil snorted, “It does.”  
“This is bad,” Logan said.  
“This is insane,” Patton corrected.  
“Why shouldn’t we just call the cops?” Roman asked.  
“And say what?” the cult member questioned. “You saw some men you can’t identify in an abandoned mine behind a locked gate and an elevator that won’t run? That you saw a hole?”  
“Fine,” Roman hissed. “Why should we help you?”  
“Because if no one is here to do this, you remember that flood a few years back? You remember the blizzard of 2011? That’s what happens. And, beyond that, the jobs never come back, the kids never come home. Everything crumbles. Possum Springs bleeds to death. And soon we’ll all be dead. And this town will be nothing more than trees and fields,” the cult member explained, his voice taking on more of a haughty tone.  
Roman, on the other hand, deflated more with every word. “I’ve seen it,” he whispered, recalling his dreams.  
“I know you have.” There was silence for a long moment before the cult member spoke up again, “I understand if you need some time to think it over.”  
“So, we can leave?” Virgil asked as he reached forward and gentling grabbed Roman’s elbow.  
The cult member shrugged, “No one’s gonna stop you. But understand that you don’t know who we are out there, but we know who you all are.”  
The cult member that Patton had shot spoke up again, “Ain’t fair that they get to leave and I probably got permanent damage.”  
“Shut it, Eric,” the first cult member growled.  
But the other member wasn’t done yet, “You don’t know a thing about what he wants! What he is!”  
“Eric, I swear,” the first cult member warned him.  
“Let’s go,” Virgil said, taking a step back, taking Roman with him.  
“Yeah, seriously,” Patton got up, brushing off his pyjama pants.  
He started to step forward, heading for his crossbow, but was stopped when the first cult member said, “Son, you leave that crossbow.”  
Patton looked up in surprise, “What? Why?”  
“Well, I could bullshit you, but, frankly, I don’t trust you,” the cult member said.  
“Fine. Piece of junk anyway,” Patton hissed. The cult member just laughed as Patton turned and stomped down the tunnel they came from.  
“I can’t move,” Roman whispered.  
“We gotcha,” Virgil scooped Roman up and deposited him on Logan’s back and the trio started off down the tunnel after Patton. After walking a little way, Virgil started speaking again, “I have no idea what to even think about any of this.”  
“It’s just horror,” Roman murmured.  
Logan laughed, “That’s not a word you get to use very often.”  
“That’s all I got left,” Roman explained, his voice soft as they reached the elevator. “Everything else in my head is gone.”  
“Let’s get out of here. Fast,” Patton said, stepping onto the elevator, flicking his hood up.  
“I don’t know if I-” Roman started to weakly protest.  
Logan hushed him, “Talk later.” The elevator creaked and groaned as it shuddered it’s way back up. When they reached the top, they departed, stopping just outside the elevator. Logan said, “I’m going to have to put you down for just a second.” Roman nodded and Logan gently lowered him to the ground, where Roman curled up as Virgil sat next to him and Logan stretched.  
“So, Remy,” Patton said, looking back at the elevator.  
Virgil sighed, “Yeah.”  
“And for what?” Patton asked, still shook.  
“I think I get it,” Roman spoke up, his voice still weak.  
“You do?” Logan asked as they all turned to look at Roman.  
“Too tired to explain it right,” Roman said with a vague hand wave. “But they lost what they thought was gonna happen which is what had happened a long time ago or how they remember or like picture it and things it gave them… So Remy and that kid at Halloween and…” Roman stopped for a minute before saying, “Sorry, I lost it.”  
“No,” Logan said, kneeling in front of Roman. “That’s more sense than I can make of it.”  
“They’re sad. They’re all really sad,” Roman murmured, feeling his eyes begin to close.  
“Are you ready to go, Logan?” Patton said, having turned away from the other three, facing the tunnel.  
“Yeah, sorry,” Logan sighed and stood up.  
“Wait,” Virgil suddenly hissed. “Everyone shut up.”  
There was silence for a moment before Patton, who had turned back around whispered, “What?”  
“I thought I heard-” Virgil was cut off again by another tremor and thud. Logan’s flashlight, which was laying on the ground next to Roman started blinking on and off as Roman sat up, all four staring at the elevator.  
One moment it was empty, the next a pissed off looking cult member was standing in it. During the next blink, he dove forward and grabbed one of Roman’s legs and started dragging him back into the elevator. Virgil wrapped his arms around him, trying to hold on and Patton dove forward to help him. Logan, who was standing closest to the large elevator switch, grabbed it and tried to turn it the other way so the elevator that the cult member was still in would go down. It had gotten stuck. There was a struggle as the whole mine began to shake and Patton let go of Virgil and dove over to the elevator switch, throwing his entire body weight against it. It was enough for it to turn over to the other side, the elevator fell down quite violently, decapitating the cult member in the process, although the head quickly rolled over the side as well. Virgil pulled Roman closer, covering him as the whole cavern continued to shake, rocks falling from the ceiling until one of them landed on Logan’s flashlight, sending them into a blackout as the cave-in continued.  
When the rocks stopped falling and the dust settled, there was loud coughing and Patton cried out, “Holy shit!”  
“Is everyone okay?” Logan’s voice called out as well.  
Virgil shook the person he was still holding, “Ro, Ro! Are you okay? Say something!” Roman just started laughing. It started as a simple chuckle, but soon was full-blown guffaws of laughter. “Ro?” Virgil tried again as Roman’s body shook with laughter. Soon though, the laughing stopped and Roman sniffed before bursting into tears. Virgil held him closer, whispering in the utter darkness, “It’s okay. It’s okay, we’ve got you. He’s gone now.”  
Virgil felt something shift behind him, the feel of Patton’s hoodie leaning against his back. He still had his hood up. “How are we gonna get out of here?” he whispered.  
Virgil shook his head, “Give him a minute.” He continued to run his fingers through Roman’s tangled hair, holding the still-crying boy in his lap.  
There was another moment of silence before Logan spoke up, also from right behind Virgil, “I feel air coming in from somewhere. So, we’re not gonna suffocate.”  
“That’s a relief,” actual relief could be heard in Virgil’s voice and both Roman and Patton sensed a bit of the usual tension be released from Virgil’s body. He was working so hard to keep himself together to keep the group together.  
“How do you…?” Patton asked, still extremely tense and feeling like the walls were caving in from the dark, dark cave they were in.  
“I was a scout, Pat,” Logan explained.  
“Hey, Logan?” Patton said.  
“Yes?”  
“I love you.”  
“Awwwww!” Roman squealed, lifting himself up just slightly causing Virgil to jump at the sudden sound and movement.  
After his heart rate calmed again, Virgil murmured, “Welcome back, Roman.”  
“Are you feeling better?” Patton asked, turning slightly to face Roman even if he still couldn’t see him.  
“Better now that I almost got murdered,” Roman said, wiping the remaining tears away. “Again. Which is weird.” He started coughing. “That was like the third time in two days?”  
“Third time’s the charm,” Patton said with a slight laugh of his own.  
Logan spoke up from where he had moved away from the other three, “Guys, the air is coming from back here.”  
“Alright, I’m up,” and with the help of Virgil and Patton, Roman did manage to get up. But he let go of both of their hands.  
“Are you sure?” Virgil asked, his hands still mere inches away, worry creeping into his not-so-monotone tone.  
“I think I can walk,” Roman said with fake confidence and started towards where Logan’s voice was coming from slowly, the other two close behind him.  
“It was boarded up a long time ago,” Logan added.  
“Can we break through?” Patton asked as they reached him.  
“Let’s find out.” And find out they did, using their combined strength to pull at the wooden boards that were slightly rotten. They managed to pull off enough to wiggle through into another tunnel with faint lighting, enough to vaguely see around them. “That’s fresh air. And water,” Logan said.  
“That is amazing,” Patton said in awe.  
“You can smell water?” Virgil questioned.  
“Hopefully, it’s not a river. Cave rivers are death traps,” Logan said.  
“Mine river,” Patton corrected. “We’re in a mine.”  
“Right,” Logan rolled his eyes, but the effect was ruined as he smiled in fondness. The troupe started down the tunnel, moving along at a fairly quick pace as some of Roman’s strength had returned.  
When they reached the water, it looked just like a large puddle. Before Logan could even start questioning it, Patton pointed out, “I can see the bottom.”  
Roman nodded, “I don’t think we’re going to die in one foot of water.”  
“Oh alright,” Logan sighed and they started out across the puddle.  
Roman barely made it a few feet across when he felt himself falling suddenly through the rest of the water, through the rock below, into a large, open space that honestly looked like outer space. There was a large, black mass in front of him, but, for the first time in months, Roman wasn’t afraid. He simply started talking with it, “I know what you are now. I think I knew before, but, you know. After I sent that kid to the hospital, years ago, they said I had an anger problem, but that’s not true. I was angry because of something else. Something I’d lost. Trying so hard since then not to get angry got me so defenceless and I lost more, and more, and more. That’s not getting better. I want to be angry. When I ran home, from college, on the bus I had this dream. Or maybe I saw it out the window. Last leaf on the tree, finally blown off.  
“I’m so scared all the time. And the fear, it hurts. Feeling like everything is over, but it was over long before I got here. So long hiding or trying to outrun this. I get it. This won’t stop until I die, but when I die, I want it to hurt. When my friends leave, when this entire town gets wiped off the map, I want it to hurt. Bad. I want to lose. I want to get beaten up. I want to hold on until I’m thrown off and everything ends. And you know what? Until that happens, I want to hope again and I want it to hurt. Because that means it meant something. It means I am something, at least. Pretty amazing to be something, at least.” Roman started laughing, this time in total relief at his realization.  
The strange mass in front of him tried to speak, but Roman chuckled again, “You know I can’t understand you, right?” The mass garbled again and Roman moaned, “Oh shut up already! I know this won’t save me in the end, but I don’t need it to save me forever. I just need it to save me now. So, if you’re gonna kill me right here, then do it. If not-”  
Everything flashed and Roman found himself standing in that puddle of water again, this time on the other side. Virgil was standing in front of him, shouting, “Ro! You’re back with us!”  
Roman jerked his head back from the sudden noise, “Woah guys.”  
“You got all sleep-walky on us for a sec,” Patton spoke up from behind Virgil, standing up on the other side.  
“You want me to carry you again?” Logan asked from beside Patton.  
“No,” Roman shook his head. “I think I’m good. I am just very, very tired.”  
“I see light up ahead,” Logan said, turning towards the way they were heading.  
The crew started out once again before coming to a very large shaft that they were at the bottom of. “What is this thing?” Patton asked.  
“Could be a vent or something, keeping the miners from suffocating way back when,” Virgil said.  
Patton cleared his throat and started shouting up the shaft, “Hello!!! We’re down here!!! Please don’t ask us why!!!”  
“Could be lucky and someone is wandering by in the woods at night,” Logan commented.  
Roman walked over to the wall of the shaft, testing a few possible holds he found. “I can try to climb out,” he suggested as he looked up higher and higher, spotting any holds as he went.  
“No, I- fine,” Logan relented. “Are you sure?”  
“Please, he’s been scaling buildings since we were 14 half-sleep deprived. Ro can do it,” Patton said with a smile.  
Logan rolled his eyes with a fond smile and looked over at Roman who nodded, “Yeah, I think. I’m all hyper now. Like dolphins.”  
“Hyper like dolphins?” Patton asked.  
“No, like when your body is like ‘I almost died’ and you get all hyper because you're filled with dolphins,” Roman explained.  
“What?” Virgil whispered, completely lost.  
“Endorphins?” Logan tried to clarify.  
“Thank you!” Roman exclaimed. “Those!”  
“Well, you ride those dolphins up out of here,” Patton said with a large smile.  
“Okay,” Roman grabbed a couple of handholds and began to climb out the side of the shaft. Every so often, he would come across a slight ledge he could stand on, but it was hard work all the way up, but he made it, up and over the side of what looked like a well. He lay on the ground for a minute, enjoying the early morning light. But soon enough he pushed himself to his feet as he looked around, vaguely remembering that he had been here before. “This place?” he whispered to himself as more memory pieces came floating back.  
“Roman?” a voice called out.  
Roman jumped and turned around, seeing a figure standing there with a flashlight, “Joan?”  
Joan laughed, “Yup!”  
“What are you doing out here?” Roman asked.  
“I live right up the hill,” Joan jabbed one finger behind them. “I heard Patton yelling.”  
“We were all stuck down there,” Roman explained.  
“You were at the bottom of the old well in my backyard?” Joan asked in disbelief.  
“It’s been a really bad night,” Roman sighed.  
Joan looked Roman up and down and Roman wondered for the first time just how badly not only the last week but the last night showed up on him, “Looks like it.”  
“Got any rope?” Roman asked. When Joan nodded but stood still, Roman tried again, “Can you go get it?”  
“Yup!” Joan turned and ran back up the hill behind them, their flashlight bobbing up and down beside them.  
“Hey Roman!” Patton’s voice travelled up the well.  
“Yup?” Roman asked, leaning back over the side to better talk to his friends.  
“Was that Joan?” Patton asked.  
“Yup!” Roman confirmed.  
“What is they doing out here?” Logan asked.  
“They live here!” Roman explained.  
“In the woods?” Virgil asked, but Joan had returned with a whole lot of rope.  
Once everyone had been pulled out of the well, Logan collapsed on the ground wheezing as he was the last one out. “My entire body hurts,” Virgil moaned from his own spot.  
“It was a long way,” Patton agreed.  
“I brought sodas,” Joan said, cheerfully, lifting up a six-pack of bright green soda.  
“You’re the best, Joan,” Roman said, gratefully, grabbing one.  
“You need the sugar and caffeine,” Joan explained, but with a smile on their face.  
Roman took a long drink as the others each grabbed one from Joan before turning back to their escape route, “Anyone else want to get as far away from this well as possible?”  
“Yup!” Virgil drawled while the other two just nodded in agreement.  
Roman turned to their other friend, “Joan, is there any way you can seal up this well? Forever?”  
“Hmmm,” Joan thought about it before snapping their fingers. “I got dynamite.”  
“What?” Virgil asked, suddenly very concerned.  
“How big of an explosion is that?” Roman asked.  
“Not small,” Joan said in way of explaining.  
Roman nodded, “That will work.”  
“Thanks, buddy!” Patton said, finally getting a bit of cheer back.  
“Okay, bye,” Joan gave them a wave before turning and walking back up the hill, presumably back to their own house.  
Once Joan was out of sight, Virgil murmured, “There goes a weird, weird, person.”  
“He saved our lives,” Patton said, his voice taking on a slightly defensive tone.  
“Joan is good,” Roman said with a smile. “Joan is a good person.”  
The group started walking through the woods back towards town when Virgil mentioned, “It strikes me that we just murdered all those guys down there.”  
“How do you figure?” Roman asked, looking up at Virgil.  
“Well, I mean, the elevator’s broken and we cause a cave-in,” Virgil explained.  
“That was self-defence,” Patton murmured, looking down at the ground. He appeared quite stricken by the implications of Virgil’s statement.  
“I guess,” Virgil conceded. “But we did cause the deaths of like a dozen guys.  
“No!” Roman stopped suddenly the rest of the group stopping around them. “They’re still alive down there!” There was silence as they all looked at each other before Roman whispered, “Oh no.”  
“Yeah,” Virgil whispered.  
“Well,” Logan said resolutely. “We’re blameless. They attacked us.”  
“One of them attacked us,” Virgil corrected.  
“And what are we worrying about?” Roman asked, rubbing at his forehead with one hand.  
“It’s morally grey!” Virgil exclaimed.  
“We’re not murderers!” Roman defended. “If we had a choice, we wouldn’t have done it!”  
There was silence for a moment before Logan murmured, “I would have.” Everyone looked at him in shock. “What! They killed people! They were trying to get us to kill people! Screw them! I don’t even believe in hell and I hope they all go straight there!”  
“Geez,” Patton said, rubbing Logan’s back with one hand.  
Logan deflated, “At least, that’s what I think.”  
“Let’s go,” Virgil murmured and they set off again.

Roman was sitting, staring at his computer screen. He had something he really wanted to tell his friends, but the words kept flitting around in his head and he wasn’t sure if he could get them out in person, so he had opened up a group chat between them, ready to try and type it out.  
RomanoTaco: Hey guys. Uh, are you there?  
RomanoTaco: Anyone?  
RomanoTaco: Ok, I’m gonna type anyway. Hard for me to say anything smart about what the hell even just happened easier for me to get it all out here and I need to talk even if you jerks are doing whatever. None of us asked for any of this. And it didn’t happen to us because we’re like special. You can work as hard as you want but the universe is gonna keep doing what it does. And I don’t think any of us deserved all this. This is all stuff that started long before we were born. It’s all like moving so fast and you’re dropped into it and you’re just trying to grab onto something. All of you are what kept me from floating off last night. Also, you kinda killed that guy to save me. Don’t think I didn’t appreciate that. LOL. I don’t know if I’m ever gonna understand what all just happened. I hope it’s stopped. I just feel right now like all I want to do is wrap my arms around all of you. Not just because I love you but to keep you all together with me. Wrap up into a ball and no one can hurt us. Sorry, I’m rambling. Joan, buddy. Joan, you don’t even use messenger. I guess I’m just typing at you wherever you’re at. Virge, you’re definitely something. I’m so sorry about all you’ve gone through. I don’t even understand all of your problems but if I could, I’d fix them. I’d fix all of it. And I’d buy the tools to do it from your store. Or like borrow them at least. A better friend would buy, but I’m what you got. And I’m glad. Yep.  
Roman sighed, leaning back on his bed and staring at the huge block of text he had just typed out. “Nope,” he muttered to himself, reaching forward to hit the backspace key. “Oh no.” The block of text had sent. He looked down to find his finger was on the enter key instead. He quickly started typing again.  
RomanoTaco: Haha guys I was just kiddin about a lot of that  
RomanoTaco: Im really tired and dont know what im saying  
He quickly logged off and fell back onto his bed, asleep in no time flat.  
Some hours later, Roman reluctantly logged back into his messenger to see what they had said.  
VergeofAnxiety: hey ro. you okay this morning?  
VergeofAnxiety: i’m not opening the pickaxe today pat informs me we’re doing band practice though i’ll see you there  
PattyCake: Hey, Nic messages lst nite  
PattyCake: I mean like... Really  
PattyCake: You massive dork  
PattyCake: Band prctice 2day  
PattyCake: Bc I feel lke we ned to do sumthin normal  
PattyCake: At the Snalcon Come c me  
PattyCake: Sincerely, Pattonry  
LBerry: It’s good to be alive this morning. That’s all.  
Downstairs, Roman found his mom in the kitchen. “Hey little prince,” his mom said, putting down her book.  
“Hey Mom,” Roman said, giving her a hug before hopping up on his place on the counter.  
“How are you feeling?” she asked.  
“Good enough to hop up here,” he said with a smile, patting the counter beside him.  
His mom sighed before asking, “Can you do me a favour and stay home tonight?”  
“Why?” he asked  
“It’s been… I just…” His mom sighed before starting again, “You are an adult and you can do whatever you want. But you do live here and you are, still, my baby.”  
“Awww, Mom!” Roman squealed, his smile still not wavering.  
“We need to come up with some ground rules just because,” his mom sighed again. Her serious tone broke, “Honey, you could have died the other night and then you just left to hang out with your friends?”  
“I- I-” Roman sighed. He didn’t want to make excuses anymore. “I’m so sorry, Mom.”  
His mom asked, “Sweetie, what’s going on with you?”  
He looked over to the window, wondering just how much he wanted to tell his mom. He finally settled with, “I’ve just had a really tough year, Mom.”  
“You’ve had a tough week,” his mom corrected. “We all have.”  
“Yeah, but-”  
“What happened at school, hon?” his mom cut him off with the dark question that had been hanging over them this whole time. “I don’t care what it is. Just please…”  
Roman worried his lip, that dark knot taking hold inside him again. But he remembered the night before, how he had told Virgil and nothing bad had happened. Surely, it would be okay again. Pushing down the knot of anxiety pulling at his insides, he asked, “Are you working today?”  
“No, I and your father are both off today.”  
“I’ll be around tonight. We can talk about it then?”  
“Sure,” his mom said, clearly not completely happy but willing to compromise. “We can make breakfast for dinner like we used to.”  
“Dad can flip the pancakes in the air!” Roman cheered.  
His mom laughed. After a moment, she asked, “Are you going out today?”  
“Yeah,” Roman admitted, worried seeing the look on her face.  
“Can you stay close? Like in town?” his mom asked.  
Roman smiled in relief, “Of course, Mom.”  
“I think they’re getting some of the Longest Night decorations out. Calling for some snow too,” his mom commented.  
“Oh wow. That went fast,” Roman said.  
“What did?”  
“The fall.”  
“Always does, hun,” his mom said with a smile.

Roman found Dr Picani up on his roof, stargazing. Roman found Talyn on their roof, scribbling in a notebook, making plans for their next horror movie. Roman found Joan outside the Food Donkey, observing a sudden rat infestation and asked after Rabies. Roman found Patton at the Snalcon with a promise to meet them soon. Roman found Virgil in the Party Barn, waiting for the rest of them to arrive.  
He walked over to him and sat down next to him. “Hey, how did you even get in here?” he asked.  
“Patton got a key and made copies,” Virgil explained.  
“How did Patton get a key?” Roman asked.  
Virgil shrugged, “No clue. Where is Patton?”  
“He said he had to spring Logan from work,” Roman relayed.  
“What does that even mean?” Virgil asked.  
“Zero clue,” Roman admitted. “I’m a little unclear about how both of them still have jobs since they seem to up and leave work early a lot.”  
“There’s a lot about those two I don’t understand,” Virgil said.  
“I think they just plain need each other,” Roman added.  
“Patton more than Logan I think,” Virgil said.  
Roman shook his head, “I don’t think Logan would agree.”  
“That’s because it wouldn’t occur to him to think otherwise because Logan is an extremely nice person,” Virgil said.  
“Patton is a nice person!” Roman defended.  
“Of course he is! But he needs a parent as much as he needs a boyfriend right now,” Virgil clarified. “He’s lucky Logan can be a bit of both. Once he grows up some more, I’m sure he will make an excellent one himself.”  
Roman laughed, “He will become the ultimate dad.”  
“Exactly,” Virgil agreed. “He just needs to stop doing petty crimes, hold down some semblance of a job, and learn a bit of responsibility. Or at least two of the three.”  
“You may be pushing it with just one,” Roman said.  
“True,” Virgil sighed.  
After another minute, Roman said, “Logan thinks Patton saved him.”  
Virgil shrugged, “I’m not saying he didn’t if he thinks so. Logan may also just be attracted to really sincere guys in cardigans who carry knives. I mean, if I met the right guy, those would all be pluses.”  
Roman raised an eyebrow, “Wow, you’ve really thought this through.”  
“Before you came back, they were really the only people I hang out with. I had a lot of time to study,” Virgil pulled his black and purple hoodie closer around himself before looking over at Roman. “So, how are you?”  
Roman was quiet for a minute before saying, “I don’t know. Still processing everything. I’m here though. You?”  
“Not great,” Virgil admitted. “Had a dream last night that the world was ending.”  
“Might be.”  
“Do you think we’re safe?”  
“No idea.”  
“Great feeling…”  
“Yup!”  
“So, I’m still a little confused about what even happened last night.”  
“Well, there is apparently a death cult of dads,” Roman started to summarize. “Or was. Who knows if that was all of them.”  
“I can’t believe they even exist. Or existed,” Virgil muttered.  
“Probably take them a few days to die,” Roman continued. “I dunno though. I kind of understand them in a weird way.”  
Virgil looked over at him in shock, “Really?”  
“It’s like a porch light that’s on and there are all these bugs around it and then the light goes out. And there’s a hole where the light was. It’s like what happened to me way back when. Like I was telling you about on the couch last night,” Roman said, waiting until the very end to chance a look over to Virgil.  
Virgil blinked as he processed it, “Holy crap. That was last night. Seems like 2 lifetimes ago.”  
There was another long silence before Roman said, “The world is a bad place.”  
“Yes. Yes, it is,” Virgil agreed. “But I can’t not care. It is basically involuntary at this point. But I am doing well. I run the store, pay the bills. I’m taking free study courses online. I’m a member of the young socialists.”  
“I sleep a lot and sometimes eat pizza,” Roman interjected.  
That caused Virgil to laugh, “Well, each according to their own ability.”  
“And, on the bright side, you got me!!!” Roman said, cheerfully.  
Virgil laughed some more, “Yeah. But I guess that doesn’t make last night so weird.”  
“It was pretty weird,” Roman argued.  
“Old men killing the youth and the poor to get back a past that barely existed. Same old same old,” Virgil said. “They’re like ghosts in some old mansion killing the new owners. Makes you want to either give up or try harder.”  
“Or,” Roman countered. “Get really upset and take a nap.”  
“Yeah, naps fix everything,” Virgil snorted.  
“Or you could drop an elevator on them,” Roman suggested.  
Virgil raised an eyebrow, “I guess that works too.”  
“How good is your car?” Roman suddenly asked.  
“Good how?” Virgil asked, thrown and defensive by the sudden shift in conversation.  
“Can it go really far?” Roman asked. “Because we should do a road trip.”  
“Do you- wait what?” Virgil was surprised. “Where?”  
“Out west,” Roman simply stated. “We can go where it is really flat and see the world’s largest pierogi. Or a museum of toy rocket ships. Or a factory that makes pretzels. Or a house that looks like a chicken!”  
Virgil smiled slightly, “Okay, let’s talk about it next year.”  
“I’ll start planning it now!” Roman cheered.  
“I thought you couldn’t leave home because of your issue?” Virgil asked.  
“Eh,” Roman shrugged. “You’re home enough. I mean, if we’re trapped here together might as well be trapped out there together. I mean if we’re not dead by then.”  
“You have a strange way of making doom sound like a lot of fun, Princey,” Virgil said with a chuckle. “That is actually kind of a gift.”  
“Darn this door!” Sudden shouting came from outside the building.  
“They’re here,” Roman said with a smile as Patton and Logan came in. “How did you get Logan out of work?”  
“I made up a family emergency,” Patton explained.  
“My uncle got ran over by a tractor,” Logan clarified, loosening his work tie.  
“Wow,” Roman laughed.  
“I mean, he did in real life,” Logan commented. “But that was years ago. So, what are we going to do about this whole thing?”  
“Can we talk about this tomorrow?” Roman asked. “Today, I just want to be normal. To have band practice, eat pizza, and be home for dinner with my parents.”  
Virgil flinched slightly and looked like he wanted to argue, before sighing and saying, “Yeah, practice and pizza sounds great.”  
“Pizza and practice,” Patton confirmed.  
Roman smiled, “Good enough.”


End file.
